Foundation Donates House To Kogi Widow

A non- governmental organization, NGO,   My People First Foundation, has donated a room-and-parlour self-contained house to a widow, Mama Mariyamo Audu Azuo, in Inata Community, Obeiba, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The house, which was commissioned and handed over to the beneficiary at the weekend, is the second home provided by the foundation for vulnerable women within two months.

Speaking at the ceremony, founder of the foundation, Hajiya Aishat Oyiza Omade, said the gesture was in fulfilment of her promise to provide shelter for at least four widows before the end of the year.

Omade said she was motivated by the desire to put smiles on the faces of people who might never be able to repay her kindness, recalling how God used strangers to transform her own life.

She said her appointment as the state coordinator and chief executive officer of the Kogi State Public Procurement and Investment Promotion Agency (KOSSIPA) had provided her with an opportunity to make meaningful impact, particularly in the lives of women and other vulnerable persons.

According to her, women constitute a significant proportion of the electorate and deserve to benefit from government, either directly or through those appointed to serve.

She urged wealthy individuals to support vulnerable people in their communities, saying the true measure of wealth was not what one accumulated but the number of lives one touched and transformed.

Omade also pledged to sustain her intervention for elderly women living in dilapidated houses and facing uncertainty over shelter.

Commissioning the building, the Technical Adviser to the Governor on Donors and Multilateral Affairs, Dr Ozomata Abdullahi, commended Omade for providing two homes to vulnerable women within two months.

Abdullahi prayed for continued blessings and elevation for the foundation’s founder and urged other privileged individuals to emulate the gesture by supporting the less privileged.

The chairman of the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), Alhaji Sule Salihu Enehe, however, said provision of shelter should be complemented with economic empowerment to make the beneficiary self-reliant.

Enehe, who donated cash to Mama Mariyamo to enable her start a small-scale business, called on individuals and organisations to support the widow with additional assistance.

He said sustainable livelihood would ensure that the new house served not only as shelter but also as a foundation for a better and more dignified life.

Following the appeal, other well-meaning individuals made additional donations towards helping the widow establish her business.

Expressing gratitude, Mama Mariyamo said she had almost lost hope before the foundation came to her aid.

She disclosed that her former house had become so dilapidated that she was forced to rent a room elsewhere, while still returning to the old building every evening in fulfilment of a promise to her late father never to abandon the family home.

The widow appealed to the government and other well-meaning Nigerians to identify and assist people living in similar conditions.