The Nation Newspaper

Tag: needy

  • Ajimobi’s wife makes case for the needy

    Ajimobi’s wife makes case for the needy

    Wife of Oyo State Governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi has appealed to wealthy Nigerians to help the less-privileged persons in the society. She made the appeal while donating food items and beverages worth thousands of naira to different orphanage homes in the state.

    In her address, Mrs. Ajimobi said any organisation or individual that supports charity homes and organisations does a great job for humanity.

    “I urge well-meaning Nigerians, philanthropists as well the organised private sector to join in the task of making life better for the less-privileged ones in our society,” Mrs. Ajimobi said.

    She commended the management of charity homes and religious bodies that have formed partnerships in providing succour for the less-privileged in Nigeria.

    Mrs. Ajimobi stated that the level of suffering among the poor informed her resolve to go the extra mile in assisting the less-privileged.

    She appealed to Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Ajimobi, even as she assured that better days were ahead for Nigeria and Nigerians.

  • A birthday with the needy

    A birthday with the needy

    The lawmaker representing Ibadan North State Constituency in the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Segun Olaleye has celebrated his 43rd birthday with the physically-challenged.

    Hon. Olaleye, who visited the Oluyole Cheshire Home in Sango area of the state, donated food items such as bags of rice, indomie noddle, wheat, semolina, drinks and other valuable items to the inmates.

    The lawmaker said the gesture aimed at identifying with the physically-challenged in the society. He noted that no government in the history of Oyo State appreciates the less-privileged as the Senator Abiola Ajimobi-led administration. He, therefore, urged the people to support the governor in transforming the state.

    Hon. Olaleye noted that the legislative and other arms of government never regretted the way the state governor is managing the affairs of the state, saying that if the state is being governed by another party other than the All Progressives Congress (APC), the state would have collapsed by now.

    “We are here to celebrate with you. We are here to show you that we care about you. We are here to complement you. I am here to tell you that no government in the history of Oyo State ever appreciates the physically-challenged people as the present administration is doing.

    “Governor Ajimobi appointed a Special Adviser on Disability which none of the previous administrations had done. We have no regret the way Governor Ajimobi has been managing the affairs of this state. If it were other parties in the state, the economy of Oyo State would have collapsed by now. I want to assure you that the state government will continue to support your home at all times,” he said.

    The representative of the physically-challenged people, Mr. Kayoed Lawal appreciated the lawmaker’s gesture, saying he could have decided to celebrate his birthday with his friends and relations rather than the physically-challenged.

    He said: “We appreciate your generosity and we pray that God will be with you and your family. This home has a school.  We have primary and secondary school here. We also have some intending students but we have limited resources. We need government’s support. This home has contributed immensely to the rehabilitation of the disabled in Nigeria, especially in Oyo State. We want you to help us more.”

    The Matron of the home, Mrs Abosede Olafikun said the lawmaker has proved that he cares about the less-privileged, especially the physically-challenged, even as she urged other lawmakers to emulate him.

  • A lift for the needy

    A lift for the needy

    •Sani addressing the physically challenged persons
    •Sani addressing the physically challenged persons

    The physically challenged in Kaduna Central Senatorial zone of Kaduna State have got a lift courtesy of Comrade Shehu Sani who has been elected to represent the zone at the Senate.

    Human rights activist Sani has been touring the district to thank the electorate whose votes took him to the National Assembly.

    One of his latest gestures on the tour was the donation of wheelchairs to physically challenged residents. The effort impressed the recipients, who said that Sani may have reversed the notion that politicians forget those who voted for them as quickly as the ballots are cast.

    Even though Sani was yet to assume duty as the representative of his people in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, he gave out the wheelchairs to the needy, saying it was not too early to start appreciating the beneficiaries who were part of the voters who believed in him.

    The Senator-elect had earlier paid a thank-you visit to several other communities in the zone shortly after his election, promising to represent them effectively and bring back the fortunes of the erstwhile industrialised Kaduna Central Senatorial zone.

    But, Sani said, his visit and donation to the destitute is a demonstration of his concern for the less privileged, adding that the destitute are the lowest cadre of the poor and downtrodden.

    Presenting the wheelchairs at the popular beggars colony along Kano Road, Kaduna, the Senator-elect said, “The destitute are the poorest of the poor, therefore they deserve special attention by the government and the entire citizenry”.

    While promising to pursue the destitute bill before the National Assembly with vigour, Shehu Sani told the destitute that, his seat in the Senate would be judiciously utilised towards eradication of the plights.

    He said, “This presentation is a tip of the iceberg among the good things that will come your way. I have brought these to show that this new regime is a regime that will fulfil promises made.

    “You all know that we are yet to be sworn in, but, we are doing this because you are the ones suffering most among the poor. In fact, you deserve help even from the poor who are not destitute.

    “This is the reason I cannot afford to wait until we are sworn in before I come to your aid. Be rest assured that I will represent you well in the Senate and more of good things will come your way,” Sani said.

    Meanwhile, beneficiaries who had earlier organised a special prayer for the Senator-elect ahead of his arrival at the beggars colony said, like ‘Oliver Twist’ they will continue to ask him for more.

    One of them, Alhassan Haruna, a physically challenged person, said, “We have supported political office seekers in the past. They made numerous promises, but once they get to the office, they forget us. But, this time, we voted Shehu Sani and he has shown that he didn’t forget us. This is a signal that when he’s sworn-in, he will never forget us.

    The destitute however urged Shehu Sani to assist them with a vehicle to convey the sick and their pregnant women ýto hospital when the need arises.

     

  • A heart for the needy

    The prayer of a dumb 16-year-old was probably the most emotional moment. The visiting Senator Joy Emordi could not hold backtears, always dabbing at her eyes a white handkerchief.

    The boy kept pointing to the heavens, his moving, but no one could hear what he was saying.

    Emordi was visiting the Red Cross Motherless Babies’ Home in Onitsha, Anambra State’s commecial town. Children of the Home swarmed around her crying for help.

    It turned out that Joseph, the dumb boy, was praying for peace and unity in the land.

    For over ten minutes, everybody at the orphanage stood motionless trying to come to terms with what was happening.

    The Chief Nursing Officer of the Home, Bridget Ajero, told The Nation that Joseph Was the prayer warrior of the home, teaching the other inmates how to do it.

    The Senator who, before now, represented Anambra North Senatorial zone at the Upper legislative house had gone to the Home to celebrate the yuletide with the children.

    She went with a lot of gifts including Christmas cakes, many bags of rice, rolls of toilet tissue, bags of salt, cartons of food drink, cartons of soaps and many cartons of noodles, among others.

    At the Home, it was discovered that other children from the Umunna Motherless Babies Home numbering over 16 were transferred to the orphanage by the government, following the closure of that home.

    It was alleged that the home was  used to traffic children by some public officers, while the matron of the home, who was a Deputy Director in the state Ministry of Women Affairs, was arrested by security operatives in 2013.

    The Onitsha orphanage home has 13 staff working in the place and 45 motherless children, while the place looks as clean as most of the homes of other people.

    According to the chief nursing officer, Anambra State government has been taking care of the place while the home receives more babies more than any other in the state because of the way the place is handled by those in charge.

    The Nation gathered that the home does not partake in adoption of children which had been rampant in most of the motherless babies homes in the state leading to the closure of some of them.

    Emordi did not only celebrate the festive period with the motherless babies, she also did same with the widows in Onitsha at the Central school Odoakpu same day.

    The widows numbering over 500 danced, prayed for long life and more prosperity and sang praises of Emordi in the vicinity.

    For 72-year-old Onyejeagbo Okeke from Anambra East Local Government Area, God would not allow Emordi to suffer any ailment in her life time.

    She said, “your pocket will never dry for remembering the widows who have nobody to do for them not only in festive periods but all the time in this zone despite not being in politics again”

    “Your own children and children of those you have helped in life will always remember you in your own old age and anybody who sees you as an enemy will fall into a bottomless pit.

    “You will never encounter any form of sickness and no form of danger will come your way, these are our prayers for you and they shall come to pass” the woman cried out.

    Also, Mrs Margaret Nwapudezili from Oyi Local Government area who is 50 years old, told The Nation that Emodi has been an inspiration for all of the widows in the seven local government areas that make up Anambra North zone.

    According to her, “what baffles us is that she continues doing it despite not being in any elective position while those who are representing us in any capacity will not talk to you.”

    Speaking with The Nation, Senator Emordi said that she had not been doing it to attract praises from anybody but that her concern is for the less privileged and the needy in the society to be happy.

    “I see participation in politics as a means of helping the less privileged, I have never been in politics to amass wealth for myself, family and community alone.”

    “This started when I was nobody in the society and when I rose, the passion increased, I cry when I see these people while some of us will be moving on convoy, blowing siren and allow such people to suffer, it is wrong”

    “It is my own little way of helping the needy and I will continue doing it by the grace of God with or without any position in the country.”

    “What I am doing is to encourage our people especially the rich to always remember this caliber of people, it gives me joy and happiness seeing these people happy,” Emodi said.

    When she met with the widows at the legion of widows, gave them a bag of rice each, cartons of tomatoes which were accompanied with cash for their meat and other items for their households.

    “There is no other way to make the widows happy and encourage them other than this way.”

    “Some of them lost their husbands years ago, while some do not have anybody to help them in their different homes and there is no way we can fold our hands and allow them to suffer unnecessarily” She said.

     

  • Celebrating ‘Xmas with the needy

    They were made to dance from their chairs, with which they moved about. The dance portrayed them as fooling around when they were  having fun and enjoying the best of the moment. It was their own way of expressing the joy of the season. Their predicament was not enough to stop their joyful mood. They were the down-trodden from nine charity homes and members of the Spinal Cord Injuries Association of Nigeria.

    Others watched from the sideline as they were offered items  ranging from cooked and raw food to canned foods, clothes, shoes, mosquito nets and bags. With them were widows, the less-privileged and needy in the area.

    It was a Christmas party, organised by the Rotary Club of Festac Town and Central in conjunction with the Society of St Vincent De Paul of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

    The distribution of items, which was done in the church premises, catered for more than a thousand women and children. Not only that, everyone went home with a sum of N500. It was all encompassing and each group’s input made the event juicer for attendees.

    While the Rotary Club of Festac Town distributed 850 pieces of mosquito nets to the women, 200 to the chaplain of the prisons, and 50 desks and chairs to So-Said Home for the Handicap in Okota, Lagos; the St Vincent De Paul distributed clothes, foot wears and packages to the children as take-home gifts. Also, rice, beans, oil, tubers of yam and tomatoes were given out.

    Their baby club, Central, supported by screening people for blood sugar and pressure, and distributing gifts items such as packs of Vitamin C tablets and pens.

    Rotary Club President, Mr Gabriel Onyema said the celebration was in line with the Rotary Day, to celebrate humanitarian services and showcase themselves to the world. He gave the cost of the mosquito nets as 1.7 million naira and expressed satisfaction that despite the distribution, every charity home goes back with two bags of rice and beans.

    “It is our duty to feed the hungry and poor every year. All in all, we are living out the spirit of Christmas and touching two of the 6 core areas of focus of Rotary: poverty and literacy.”

    He said such gestures would make Nigerians realise the meaning of Christmas and touch lives just like Jesus Christ did.

    Chaplain of Prisons Services, Fr. Jacob Adeyemi, who received the nets, said the gesture would go a long way in helping the inmates, many of who sleep on the bare floor and are exposed to the dangers of the night due to congestion. He said love such as this would make them realise that by the time they come out; they will never go back to crime again because they know that the society cares for them in their hard times.

  • ‘Our concern is reaching out to the needy’

    ‘Our concern is reaching out to the needy’

    Some went home with food items, some kitchenware, electronic articles or clothing materials, among others. But for the event, the beneficiaries, who were mostly poor, would have found it difficult to buy those items in the market.

    For about four years now, Canaan Ministries International otherwise known as Champions Church, Ilorin, Kwara State capital, has, in this fashion, been helping its less endowed members and the needy outside the church.

    The church sells household materials, food items, kitchenware and other articles at give-away prices to members of the public.

    At this year’s edition, the buyers bought tickets which qualified them to access the materials on display.

    Items sold this year included clothing materials, electronics, food items, both domestic and factory fans as well as home and kitchen appliances.

    On hand to declare this year’s sale open was the founder of the ministries, Rev Emmanuel Adebayo-Oset.

    He told The Nation after making his own purchase that:“The programme started since 2010 and we thank the lord. The purpose is to reach out to people in the love of God. There are many people who, because of certain circumstances, are living from hand to mouth. We know indeed it is part of our responsibility as a church of the lord Jesus Christ to be a blessing to others. Our concern is to reach out to people, lift them, encourage them and demonstrate to them the love of Christ.

    “The purpose is to impact on people’s lives and let them know that God loves them, because of the situation in the country now many people are having it tough. Our concern is to let them know that God has not and cannot forget them; we want them to know that God is concerned about them. In our own little way we are reaching out to them in the love of God.

    “But on a broader scale, beyond a programme like this we want people to know that no matter what they might be going through, the love of God as demonstrated in Christ Jesus is able to handle their problems.

    “For people to overcome their challenges, they have to draw closer to God, but unfortunately, most people don’t because Satan knows that if they can draw closer to God they will be able to experience God’s touch and change in their lives.

    “The gesture is without prejudice to congregation or even religion. There are many people out there who are not Christians. It is for all comers. At times like this, it should be part of our responsibility as  people of God to demonstrate His love. The language of love is easily understood by all anywhere in the world.

    “There is no one who does not want to be loved and the highest form of love is God’s love. I think that all Christians all over the country should have this vision. It does not necessarily mean that should do it as we are doing it. It should be something that is universal to all Christians anywhere.

    “Love exists in the church of God in Nigeria but we can do better. Romans 5:5 that love of God is shed above in our heart by the Holy Spirit; one thing is for somebody to have something in his heart and another thing to demonstrate it. I think the lord wants us to demonstrate it more. Many things people do if they will just use the avenue of love the world will be easy place to stay. From the bible the first responsibility we owe everybody is love. Before you even speak to them, love them, help them. By the time you have helped them and they have been ministered to it will be a lot easier for them to listen to your message.

    Rev Adebayo-Oset blamed the pervasive corruption and other vices in the country on loss of long-held values and primitive acquisition of wealth.

    He added that: “Many of our people have lost the old values that we were born into. Unfortunately, the first culprits are our leaders. Naturally, in a family, in an institution you look up to your leaders. Our leaders over times have misled our people.

    “I am not too old but by the grace of God I am old enough to know that things were not like this in Nigeria. People were not so materialistic. Imagine people stealing money that belongs to pensioners. That is a wicked person. Anybody who does that can kill. Those people don’t even need to talk God almighty will curse the swindler.

    “Our people no longer know the meaning of contentment. Our parents were ambitious but they knew the meaning of contentment. Our people have lost connection with the values that held society together. Our parents were ambitious people but were decent. A decent person will know that by the time you have two or three houses you don’t need anything more. What is happening in our country is that through our leaders our people have been corrupted.”

    He said “I want to appeal to Nigerians to come back. Maybe we shouldn’t even wait for our leaders. They have played the prodigal son. Let Nigerians know that the life of a man does not consist in the abundance of his possession.

    “Let our people know that acquiring things that are not yours is an invitation to God’s anger. Illegal acquisition does not fill the soul. Jesus said that life is more than raiment, the body is more than meat. Our people have got engrossed in materialistic things and that is why they are deluded. Because of this inordinate pursuit of wrongdoing some sicknesses that were align to us are now becoming our lots. We are in a hurry because we want to amass stupendous wealth. There is glory in simplicity. It is one thing to be ambitious and another thing to have inordinate affection for material things.”

  • SpiritOfLagos fetes the needy

    SpiritOfLagos fetes the needy

    For their support for the “Good Neighbourliness” arm of the SpiritOfLagos,  Lagosians have received the thumbs up.

    SpiritOfLagos Project Director Olaniyi Omotoso championed “Good Neighbourliness” to encourage Lagosians to show love to one another by donating items to the Gbagada-based Child Life Line, a non-profit, charitable association committed to supporting the needy.

    Omotoso praised those who donated items, such as, perishable food items, educational materials, clothes and sporting gears, saying their response, was encouraging and showed that the SpiritOfGood neighbourliness truly resides in Lagos.

    He said: “We are overwhelmed by what we are seeing today. Even with a short notice, Lagosians have expressed love even to these young children who are products of circumstances beyond them. Good neighbourliness is one of the four pillars that the SpiritOfLagos stands on. It is through good neighbourliness that our community can truly develop. And with the donation of these items today, these vulnerable children in Child Life Line will from today begin to enjoy a new lease of life”.

    The SpiritOfLagos,  he said, would continue to support the Child Life Line as it seeks to empower children, mostly between ages 10 and 18, through formal and vocational education and reconnect them with their families.

    In the spirit of the Yuletide, members of the SpiritOfLagos also had a Christmas party for the children.

    Mrs. Sally Udoma, President, Child Life Line, thanked members of SpiritOfLagos for championing “a worthy cause”, urging the organisation to continue to support the group to make its vision a reality.

    Child Life Line, according to her, had been able to reunite some children with their families in the last 20 years. Some of the children, she said, had been nurtured to be self reliant, self supporting and independent through the provision of formal and informal education.

  • Yuletide joy for the needy

    IT has put the needy in a jolly mood for the season. In the run-up to Christmas, a non-governmental organis-ation (NGO) in Ebonyi State, the Chinedu Ogah Foundation, has distributed various materials to widows and the less privileged in the state.

    At the event, the foundation gave out bags of rice, cash, sewing machines, wrappers and foodstuff to the over 750 widows, less privileged and disabled men and women in the state. Not every needy person may have got the largesse but it was a huge relief for for those who did as well as their dependants.

    The occasion which took place at the Women Development Centre, Abakaliki witnessed a large turnout of women who came to grace the ceremony and celebrate with the recipients.

    The recipients included aged men and women, the blind and other physically challenged and widows who cannot cater for themselves but needed all forms of assistance to survive.

    The distribution exercise took several hours as the Chief Executive of the foundation, Comrade Chinedu Ogah personally distributed the items to ensure that they went to only those it was meant for.

    Responding to the gesture, a disabled from Ebonyi Local Government Area, Mr. Michael Nwankwegu who expressed happiness at the exercise, prayed God to bless the family of the Chief Executive of the Foundation for remembering him at this time.

    “I am very grateful to God for the gesture; who are mine to benefit from these largese; to God be the glory. May God continuously bless him and all his workers”.

    In his remarks, the founder of the NGO, Comrade Chinedu Ogah stated that his greatest motivation in life was to see the less privileged smile and supported to achieve their aim in life.

    According to him, politicians and the wealthy individual in society are suppose to support the less privileged in different areas of life and not abandoned them as if they do not matter.

    “I enjoy seeing the less privileged smile; our foundation is committed to cartering for the needs of all and sundry; this whole exercise costed the foundation about N7 million”.

    The Foundation also gave financial support and other items to policemen, soldiers and members of the society.

  • ‘Give automatic job to the needy’

    ‘Give automatic job to the needy’

    Worried by the pitiable plight of the physically-challenged persons in the society, especially in terms of unemployment, a philanthropist and President of Kilbra Islamic Propagation Centre (KIPC), Arigidi-Akoko, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdulkadir Kilani has advised the state government to give priority attention to the physically-challenged persons in Ondo State.

    He gave the advice in Akure, the Ondo State capital, while presenting some empowerment materials to some people living with disabilities through the Kilbra Islamic Propagation Centre (KIPC), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that caters for the well-being of the hearing impaired, visually impaired, the dumb and other physically-challenged persons.

    The state government is recruiting 2,000 new teachers to fill existing vacancies. The prospective candidates who applied for the teaching positions are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the exercise.

    He expressed his displeasure over the neglect of such people, particularly in the area of employment after they had graduated from various tertiary institutions.

    According to Kilani, the establishment of special schools for the physically- challenged in Ikare, school for the visually impaired at Owo, deaf and dumb school at Akure and school for the mentally retarded at Okeigbo would be meaningless if they obtain degrees and could not secure gainful employment with their degree certificates.

    “Are we expecting this category of people to become street beggars even when they are well educated?” he queried.

    The Muslim leader appealed to Governor Olusegun Mimiko to evolve emergency employment process for the physically-challenged people in a bid to absorb those that have academic qualifications.

    He also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to sign the bill on condition of service for the persons with disabilities into law.

    Among the dignitaries that attended the event was Prof. Ishaq Amoo of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), who praised the NGO for alleviating the suffering of the less-privileged in the society.

    Amoo urged well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with the government to provide succour for them.

    Present at the event were the Olubaram of Ibaram-Akoko, Oba Segun Atibioke, the Regent of Akungba-Akoko, Princess Omosowon, the Amirah of FOMWAN in the State, Hajia Fausat Aliu, the Secretary, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Akoko Northwest, Alhaji Sule Olaniyi and a host of other dignitaries.

  • Imo builds hospital for the needy

    Imo builds hospital for the needy

    Ailing and indigent patients must not be allowed to die for lack of care, neither should they be held back at the hospital where they are treated just because they cannot pay their bills. It is a common scenario, but in Imo State great care has been taken to ensure that the poor and needy do not end up in agony. A hospital has been built in the state where financially weak persons are treated for free. The hospital also boasts a cancer centre. It is the first charity healthcare facility in the state, built by the Imo Foundation. Many see the development as the stuff of good governance, a huge relief for many when it fully takes off.

    The facility, according to the Director General of the foundation, Mrs. Ngozi Njoku, was conceived to reduce the cost of taking indigent patients to distant hospitals or even outside the country.

    She described the Imo Foundation as the humanitarian arm of the state government, which caters for the needs of the less privileged, adding that since inception, the foundation has become a one-stop place of succour for the people.

    Conducting reporters round the newly completed hospital, the DG stated that the foundation has organised numerous free medical programmes with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and Imo State medical practitioners based in the United States.

    She said that before now, the foundation sponsored various medical trips to India and other countries for helpless patients, including those going for kidney transplant, and treatment for cancer and other terminal diseases.

    She said the cost of sponsoring an increasing number of helpless patients overseas was beginning to take a great toll on the resources available to the foundation and this, she added, inspired setting up  a charity hospital, where volunteer doctors will perform surgery on the patients.

    Said she: “The charity hospital concept was as a result of the fact that many of our poor patients are unable to pay required deposits in the hospital and as a result they suffer untold pains for cases that need surgical attention”.

    Njoku further noted that the concern for cancer patients, gave rise to the Cancer Palliative Centre, also in the hospital.

    “During my last trip to America,” she said, “I visited the Managing Director of the World Cancer Centre in search of collaboration and partnership and the meeting was quite rewarding and we are expecting that our cancer patients will receive adequate help in various ways”.

    She explained that the hospital has a 20-bedroom facility that will accommodate health personnel coming to provide medical service.

    “The cottage hospital has three theatres, one recovery room, a laboratory, two consulting rooms, two wards, among other departments. The project when commissioned will be the first charity hospital in this part of the country”.

    The DG hinted that the Cancer Palliative Centre will reduce the trauma of cancer patients.

    “The palliative centre will serve as a place where those suffering from cancer will be counselled by experts and given the needed medical and spiritual support to reduce their suffering so that when eventually they pass on it will not be out of pain and frustration”.

    Calling for collaboration and support from public-spirited Nigerians and corporate organisations, Njoku said that more funds are required to cope with the growing demand of catering for the needs of the sick and poor by the Foundation.

    She added, saying, “Currently the foundation has no budget from the government but depends on voluntary donations from civil servants in the state who part with certain percentages of their salaries monthly. We need adequate funding to cope, because of the huge cost of flying indigent patients abroad for treatment but the state governor and the state first lady have been very supportive but more needs to be done”.