By Job Osazuwa

More  than 3,000 underprivileged people in Okokomaiko, Ojo Local Government Area (LGA), and other parts of Lagos State recently had reason to smile, having benefited from an empowerment programme organised by the Olawale Aganga-Williams Foundation.

As early as 8am on January 28, residents started coming into the venue of the event. The participants, who were mobilized by the officials and ward members of Ojo council and Ojo Federal Constituency, put behind them tribal, religious or political differences to attend the programme.

The beneficiaries included nursing mothers, widows, young adults and the aged.

The convener and founder of the foundation, Hon. Olawale Aganga-Williams, said he would not stop putting smiles on the faces of residents within Ojo Federal Constituency, where he hails from. He disclosed that the non-governmental organisation (NGO) was primarily created to give succour to his people who have been victims of poverty, bad roads and infrastructural deficit.

Addressing the crowd, he said: “I am very passionate about the wellbeing of my people because I know and share in your pains, especially in our present Nigeria.

“The desire to impact and give back to the community birthed the foundation, which is a non-profitable organisation that was founded on the need to provide an atmosphere where Nigerians are prosperous and secure. It has always been my wish for Nigeria to be secure and free from poverty.

Related News

“The foundation’s focuses are to provide empowerment through skill acquisition, jobs for the unemployed, education scholarship for children, youths and all the underprivileged.

“There is huge unemployment, poverty and hunger in Nigeria today. So, at OAW Foundation, apart from feeding those who are hungry, we are providing opportunities for people to live a better life by empowering men and women with the right skills that would also make them employers of labour. This we believe will help to eradicate poverty, which would ultimately lead to Nigeria’s economic growth.”

He emphasised that his constituency was faced with a lot of infrastructural decay that needed to be tackled through collective efforts. He said he believed in human capacity development, which would in the long run lead to positive impact on society.

One of the participants who received food palliatives from the foundation, a petty trader and mother of two, Mrs. Kudirat Alimi, said the coming of the foundation to Ojo was timely. She stated that the less-privileged in the community had been looking forward to such an initiative.

She added that the area was in dire need of pipe-borne water, as well as scholarships for young people who have the zeal to become educated and be more responsible in society.

She appreciated Aganga-Williams for the gesture, even as she charged him to fulfil other promises he made on alleviating poverty in Ojo community.

Another participant, a young widow, Anita Udoh-Ojo, who lost her husband last year to a robbery attack, expressed the hope that the foundation would support her with some funds to boost her business and take care of her six-month-old baby.