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by Okechukwu Keshi Ukegbu
As part of the activities marking the fourth quarterly meeting of the Southern Governors’ Wifes’ Forum which was held in Umuahia, Abia State capital, Vicar Hope Foundation, the pet project of Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu, wife of Abia State Governor was launched.
Like Eldon Tanner rightly obserevd that “ service is the rent we pay for living on earth”and some scriptures emphasise the need for us to render humanitarian services. “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbour, ‘Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you’—when you already have it with you. — Proverbs 3:27-28; “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” — Proverbs 19:17, Mrs Ikpeazu, through the instrumentality of the foundation has affected the lives of some less- privileged individuals in the state positively.
Prominent among them are two-bedroom bungalows built for two indigent widows in Ohuhu and Amuzukwu communities, both in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the State. Prior to this, she had built seven bungalows for six indigent widows and one blind man in some local government areas in the state.
The first lady’s philanthropic gestures are not restricted to donating buildings to the less-privileged. Through her skills acquisition programme, Abia, in the days ahead will witness a highly- skilled and productive populace. This will ensure a high reduction in crime. The argument is that when the energies of the teeming youth population are meaningfully engaged in productive activities, the tendency to engage in criminal activities would wane to the barest minimum. It is a widely- held view that” an idle man is a devil’s workshop”. The programme is expected to equip 100 participants of the first phase of the programme with equipment and start- up capital to enable them become small scale entrepreneurs. Already, the foundation has facilitated various skills acquisition trainings in conjunction with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) for fifty youths drawn from oil producing communities of Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State.
Vicar Hope, as the name implies, is indeed a bastion of hope for the Abia State less-privileged and needy. It is designed to (a) assisting the physically challenged and vulnerable persons, (b) to provide a platform for enhancing the status of women and children through education, empowerment, welfare and healthcare provision (c) to locate, and establish indigent widows and other person as well as give love and succour to less privileged, the motherless babies and young orphans, (d) to material assistance, financial support, moral assistance and social amenities to the less privileged as well as impart skills that would make them self reliant. (e) to carry out enlightenment campaigns, to sensitize against and combat deadly diseases, health challenges, poverty, obnoxious widowhood and teenage girl practices, as well as promote women and child rights.
In the foreseeable future, the foundation’s flagship programme, the sickle cell project would offer a huge relief to sickle cell patients as constructions of its permanent offices as well as an advanced Sickle Cell Care Centre are underway.
It will be recalled that Mrs. Ikpeazu recently dewormed school children across some local government areas in the state have been dewormed. The benefits of deworming school children cannot be overemphasised. Experts opine that worm infections can have a crucial negative impact on a child’s cognitive ability and general health. It is further argued that school attendance of children who have worms are more likely threatened because of regular breakdown of their health. The parasites are also constitute serious barrier to increased economic development since children who have worms are less likely to be productive, as adults.
Worms infestation can compromise the immune system, expose the host to malnutrition, destruction of tissues and organs, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, intestinal obstruction, anaemia, ulcers and other health problems. Deworming of children in the developing societies have been identified as a potentially effective public health and development strategy.
Indeed, Mrs. Nkechi Ikpeazu’s humanitarian gestures are sending strong signals to other well-to-do Abians to invest in humanity
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