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Atabor Julius
A non-governmental organisation,
The My People First Foundation has donated a room-and-parlour self-contained house to an octogenarian widow, Mama Mariyamo Audu Azuo, in Inata Community, Obeiba, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The donation, the second by the foundation within two months, was made during a commissioning and handover ceremony in the community on Saturday.
Founder of the foundation, Hajiya Aishat Oyiza Omade, said the gesture was in fulfilment of a promise she made during her first outreach to provide shelter for at least four widows before the end of the year.
Hajiya Omade, who is also the State Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of the Kogi State Social Investment Programme Agency (KOSSIPA), said she was delighted to put smiles on the faces of people who may never be able to repay her kindness.
She added that she was only replicating how God used total strangers to change her own story.
According to her, her position at KOSSIPA had provided an opportunity to make meaningful impact, particularly in the lives of women and other vulnerable members of society.
“Women constitute a significant proportion of dedicated voters and should benefit from government either directly or through those appointed to serve,” she said.
Hajiya Omade appealed to well-to-do individuals to extend support to vulnerable people within their communities, stressing that the true measure of wealth is not how much one accumulates, but how many lives one is able to touch and transform.
She also pledged to remain committed to her promise of improving the living conditions of elderly women living in dilapidated homes and facing uncertainty.
Commissioning the house, the Technical Adviser to the Governor on Donors and Multilateral Affairs, Dr. Ozomata Abdullahi, commended Hajiya Omade for providing two homes to vulnerable women within two months.
Dr. Abdullahi prayed for God’s continued blessings and elevation for the foundation’s founder, and called on other privileged individuals to extend a helping hand to the less privileged.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), Alhaji Sule Salihu Enehe, said providing shelter should be accompanied by economic empowerment to enable beneficiaries to become self-reliant.
Alhaji Enehe donated cash to Mama Mariyamo to enable her to commence a small-scale business. He urged individuals and organisations to support the initiative by contributing towards giving the widow a sustainable means of livelihood.
He said the gesture would ensure that the new home becomes not only a place of shelter but also a foundation for a better and more dignified life for the beneficiary.
The call prompted other well-meaning individuals at the event to make additional donations towards helping Mama Mariyamo establish her trade.
The beneficiary, Mama Mariyamo, expressed appreciation to Hajiya Omade for coming to her aid when she had almost lost hope.
She disclosed that her former house had become so dilapidated that she was forced to rent a room elsewhere, while returning to the old building every evening in fulfilment of a promise she made to her late father never to abandon the family home.
Mama Mariyamo appealed to government and other well-meaning individuals to identify and assist people living in similar conditions.
