Widows and orphans including the less privileged in Maiduguri have lauded Borno State governor, Babagana Umara Zulum for Christmas gift of N50,000 to over 250 of them.
The widows and orphans, who were assembled on Tuesday, 24 December, at the Pompomari area of Maiduguri, said the governor’s benevolence has raised their hope of celebrating the festive period amid the economic crunch bedevilling the citizens due to the high cost of living.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP, Maram Saleh, who lost her husband four years ago, said she was thinking about how she could even get some cups of rice and condiments for Christmas before the governor’s gesture came their way.
She, therefore, lauded Governor Zulum for making the celebration a reality for so many of her kind who are feeding from hand to mouth due to the loss of their breadwinners, saying that she can now go home and celebrate Christmas with her children with joy.
In the same sentiment, Patience Bitrus, a mother of five children who lost her husband at the peak of the Boko Haram insurgency, said the Governor’s benevolence rekindled her hope of celebrating Christmas with members of her family.
” We are really grateful to Governor Zulum for coming to the aid of the widows and orphans especially, at this year’s Christmas when there is high cost of living and economic hardship. We will continue to pray for the Governor for more wisdom, good health and courage to continue to deliver dividends of democracy to the citizens as he has been doing,” she said.
Also speaking, Eunice Onwuchekwe, Sarah Hakila, and Elizabeth Ani expressed their joy over the Governor’s gesture, describing it as one of the best gifts they had received.
The coordinator/ zonal chairman Ohanaeze All Progressives Congress ( APC ) , Chief Ugochukwu Egwidike, commended Governor Zulum for coming to the aid of the widows, orphans and the less privileged with the Christmas gifts.
He noted that the governor had been celebrating Christmas for the widows and orphans since 2020 with cash gifts, adding that 250 beneficiaries were targeted to benefit from the gesture. However, due to the harsh economic reality facing the country’s people, more people turned up to benefit from the gesture.
The secretary of the Ohanaeze APC Support Group, Asiwaju Alabi, expressed gratitude to Governor Zulum for providing a free transport scheme for 710 non-indigenes in the State to travel to their various States to celebrate Christmas and New Year with their loved ones, as well as cash gifts to the widows and orphans in the state.
