There are two classes of philanthropists, those that give in order to make gain, and those that give altruistically, Chief Johnmary Anagolu belongs to the altruistic class, giving has become a passion to him as typified in this era of Covid-19 Pandemic where he did not only gather 1000 families, he also went from house to house distributing food items, CYRIACUS NNAJI reports.
No doubt the lockdown of Lagos State as part of measures to contain the Coronavirus pandemic is having its adverse effects on the residents.
To ameliorate the sufferings of the less-privileged, Chudyvindo Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) devoted for Saving Lives When it Matters, recently gathered over 1000 residents of Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State, giving them food items to cushion the effects of the lockdown ordered by the state and federal governments over the Corona Virus.
The NGO also went from house to house providing food items to the poor in Ajangbadi area of Ojo.
Co-Founder, Chudyvindo Foundation, Johnmary Anagolu (Eze si na chi 1 of Olo) while speaking at the event disclosed that public spirited individuals in the community always contribute their quota to assist government to realize its goal, hence the idea of assisting the less-privileged in the area “You know this area is called Ojo, a place where any day, any time, people come out to support government for whatever they are doing”
Speaking further Anagolu said “This time around we discovered that a lot of people are really hungry and we can’t make it to Lekki or Lagos Island, so we chose this vicinity because this place is where the poor masses live, as you can see, I am even surprised to see the multitude of people here. Yes the government said they don’t want to see crowd of more than 20, but you can see people gathering just for food. And on our own, we can’t afford to feed everybody; we only do our best to assist the government and also the poor masses.”
Anagolu also spoke on what the government should do with billions that are being contributed as a result of the Coronavirus “Let them help these people, we can’t do anything than to plead with the government to assist the poor masses at Ojo area, especially in the place called Mashebinu Street and Adebisi/Ilaje area. We really need help. The little we can offer is what we have brought here and I thank God, people are happy, they have received it and we can do more, I just wished we could do more,” he said.
On where he derived his inspiration for his philanthropy, “My inspiration is God and the backbone of all that I am doing is my wife, Mrs. Vivian Anagolu, she is the one who is always there to encourage me. There was never a time I make up my mind to say lets support this people that she will not be in support of it. She even contributes her own money for this particular purpose.
“So the inspiration is from God and for the fact that we are part of this people, who suffer to survive in life, and today the position we find ourselves, we thank God for that, so we are going back to those who are really in need of help,” Anagolu said.
A lady who managed to speak to the media after collecting the foodstuff said “God will bless the man. God bless Chudyvindo. The government is not helping us. They gave us two weeks and they gave us another two weeks without food, we are not going to work, the government is not helping us at all. God bless this man and his family.”
