Even as the nation’s economy bites harder, some Nigerians have not lost the need to assist the less privileged, especially during festivities so as to level up inequality in the society and thus spread the virtues of love, kindness and fear of God. One of such initiatives, by the Obidon Foundation, has in no small measure assisted to nurture peace and amity held on December 28, 2021, writes MAURICE OKAFOR in Enugu.
The memories of 2021 Christmas celebrations and further efforts at igniting both human and infrastructural development at Imama Community in Iwollo, Ezeagu LGA, Enugu State, have continue to linger on the minds of it’s rural residents and folks, more especially among the widows and the down trodden. The joy of majority of the people of the rural populace, including even the high and the mighty knew no bounds during the Christmas period as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Obidon Foundation, under the chairmanship of Igwe-elect, High Chief Obinna Anieke (Obidon), which made available assorted food and beverage packages distributed freely to the needy on that day.
For Dr. Anieke, dispensing charity and benevolence has become part of his empathising with the poor and less priviledged. In the past, he even drilled a watet borehole in the community as part of his humanitarian services through his Obidion foundation. He had also graded the community’s roads and is concluding with his partners to ashfalt the roads.
In keeping to this tradition of feeding the poor, several bags of rice, cartons of Indomie noddles, vegetable oil, cartons of biscuits, several tubers of yams, beans and bundles of clothes [wrappers] were distributed by the Foundation to the needy at the Imama Iwollo Community Primary School play ground. In addition, the Chairman/Founder of the Obidon foundation, His Royal Highness-elect, Igwe Anieke further thrilled his people with the announcement of scholarships to several indigent pupils of the village from primary school to the tertiary institution. He also pledged to support the Catholic church in the community in realizing it’s dream of constructing a befiitting classroom block, for the take-off of a Catholic secondary school, which will assimilate graduating pupils from the Imama Community Primary School and beyond.
It was gathered that Igwe Anieke’s passion for constructing and equipping infrastructural projects for the take-off of the mission secondary school in his community, stems from appeals by the Catholic church in the community, after its research findings showed that several brilliant and exceptionally gifted children especially, from poor parental background, after passing out from the central primary school, lose the opportunity to continue with their academic pursuit for the fact that there are no nearby secondary school so they could attend from their respective homes in Imama Community.
Igwe Obidon set the pace by contributing meaningfully to the construction of the structures from which the Imama Iwollo Catholic Mission Secondary School would take-off. He equally announced the award of scholarship to 10 indigent but certified intelligent pupils who were proclaimed the pioneers of the school. He entrusted the mode and method of setting the 10 beneficiary pupils to the Parish Priest of the Catholic Church and the principal of the school.
The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Anthony Njom, extolled Dr. AniekeO for his humanitarian asiatance to the community and called on other well-endowed and prominent citizens to emulate the kind gestures of the Igwe-elect.Some of the beneficiaries, especially the elderly, concurred that Dr Anieke, through the foundation, shares food items and clothing to the villagers anually. They prayed God Almighty to continue to bless him abundantly.
Speaking to newsmen thereafter, Igwe Anieke said his foundation which he said has attained global outreach, has as its core value, to impact positively on the lives of the rural poor and the less privileged in the society.
He also said it is antithetical that people who are endowed by God as well as several people who have attained lofty political heights do not care less about others around them, stressing that it is the root cause of criminality now ravaging out society and country in particular.However, he lamented that the rising exchange rate of the foreign currencies against the Naira, have impacted negatively on the quantity and scope of their outreach last December, but nonetheless promised that the foundation will continue to impact on the lives of the common people irrespective of current and debilitating challenges.
He fuether disclosed that the foundation already attracted the construction of a borehole which is the key source of portable drinking water in the village at the moment after years of the damage of the general Iwollo Community Water Project. The President-General of the Imama Iwollo community, Chief Ferdinand Ebuo; the Onowu, Ozo James Ogwudile; the Woman Leader, Chief (Mrs.) Anthonia Iyiama; National Coordinators, Obidon Foundation, Chief Titus Amalu and Sir. Boniface Ugorji, as well as an elder statesman, Pa Anthony Inyiama, who were all part of the thanksgiving mass and who witnessed and participated in the sharing of the largesse, commended Igwe Anieke for always giving a listening ear and showing passion for the needs of his people, especially the less privileged and pleaded with the Enugu State Government to accore full recognition to Imama Iwollo and their traditional ruler as an autonomous community and full-fledged traditional ruler, as part of facilitating and encouraging the development strides going on in the community.
They also pleaded with the Enugu Sate Government to officially recognize Dr Anieke as the traditional ruler of the Community, based on his personal sacrifices and commitment to peace and development of Imama Iwollo and the over whelming support of the people in the community, adding that there are no dissenting voices on the issues from the community.
