Okam Forum, an organisation of natives of Orokam in Ogbadibo local government area of Benue State based at home and in the diaspora which aims at promoting socio-economic development of the community, is set to empower 50 widows and 200 indigent students of the community.
The widows are being assisted to enable them start small and medium-scale enterprises or cottage industries with N250, 000 grant each while the indigent students are being helped on scholarships in secondary schools and tertiary institutions with N100,000 each.
Chairman of the forum, Chief Emmanuel Ameh, said at a press briefing yesterday in Abuja that the forum decided to render this support because Orokam community has a high rate of school drop-outs due to the inability of many families to finance the education of their wards, thus affecting many brilliant students.
According to the chairman, the organisation will focus on brilliant students identified either as orphans or from very poor families who need support to progress in school.
He said the forum would be honoring many national icons and members of the association for national service and commitment to community development within the Idoma nation and Nigeria at large on February 7 where the scholarships and grants would be given to beneficiaries.
Ameh said they would also focus on other issues like health support programme for community health insurance with a N5 million revolving drug fund and medicare to reduce infant and maternal mortality as well as disease prevalence in Orokam.
He said: “The youth self-employment scheme is to reduce the prevalence of illicit drug addiction, acts of criminality and delinquency among youths in Orokam who have been out of school and unemployed by re-directing their energy to trade, ICT, shoe-making, phone repair and other technical hands-on training to be supported with minimal funding and kits to enable them become self-employed.
“It is projected that training, kits, and take-off seeds for each beneficiary will be N150,000 for the 200 youths in the pilot phase. This is estimated at N30,000,000.
“As a prominent community association, we are motivated to begin these programmes because we believe that philanthropy and acts of kindness are values shared in a common humanity.
“Over 40 Nigerian icons mostly of Idoma extraction will be honoured in three different categories: community service, meritorious retirement from service, promotion and strategic appointments.”
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