Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Barely two months after the member representing Onitsha North and South Federal Constituency of Anambra State in the National Assembly, Lynda Chuba Ikpeazu, empowered 150 people; the lawmaker has lifted another set of 86 persons.
Items distributed to the beneficiaries were four tricycles, six motorcycles;10 generators, 20 deep freezers, nine industrial sewing machines, 12 sewing machines, 15 grinding machines and 10 clippers and barbing accessories.
The beneficiaries were selected from the four state constituencies that make up the Federal Constituency namely: Onitsha North I and II and Onitsha South I and II, and it was clearly spelt out that they must be the poorest among them who had not benefited before now from her empowerment scheme.
Distributing the items to the beneficiaries, the lawmaker who was represented by her Senior Special Adviser on Political Matters, Chief Frank Onuorah said that the lawmaker had held the programme five times since the House was inaugurated June last year, including trainings.
Onuorah, who said that more will still come due to her feelings to the plights of the people, stated that the essence was to make the beneficiaries self-reliant.
“She is doing very well and has been trying for the people of the constituency; after the election in 2019, she had organised one empowerment, and before Christmas she did another empowerment and today she has distributed other materials/items to the people of the constituency and also trained over 350 people on fish farming.
“I know that she is going to perform more than expected this time. You know that there are many road networks in Onitsha, electricity transformers attracted by her etc. She is doing well and my advice to the people of the constituency is to have patience with her as time goes on, they will get to know Lynda better, she is one in ten million,” Onuorah stated.
He explained that the beneficiaries cut across tribes, political and religious affiliations and age, so far as they resided in Onitsha.
“Some of the beneficiaries are from the Muslim communities who reside in Onitsha; we had also visited the Muslims in Onitsha where we gave them a token from the lawmaker to continue to remember her in their prayers. Lynda loves helping people. We also empowered other people from different places who live in Onitsha; in fact, 60 per cent of people empowered were not indigenes/natives of Onitsha. She is representing the federal constituency of Onitsha North and South and not the indigenes of Onitsha but all those living, working and doing business in Onitsha.
“The empowerment cuts across all the ethnicities in the country, all the political affiliations. She gave the empowerment to everybody not minding where you are coming from or the political party you belong to, it is for the people of Onitsha North and South. The lawmaker has also started erecting a classroom block at Ado Girls Secondary School to assist the school,” Onuorah stated.
Director General of Nigeria Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Dr. Patricia Passu represented by Mr. Samuel Agoda, a director in the institute, who monitored the exercise, described it as the best way to reduce unemployment, create job and make people self-reliant.
“We are here to ensure that all items were given to the beneficiaries as stipulated in the bill of quantity given to the lawmaker. We came to ensure that the empowerment gets to the actual beneficiaries and the items in the bill of quantity were purchased.
“The distribution of the items was okay because the beneficiaries were selected from their wards based on their contributions in one way or the other. You can see the joy in their faces as they collect their items.”
Agoda, however, called on other lawmakers to emulate Ikpeazu to ensure that constituency finance given to them got to the people they represent.
Some of the beneficiaries: Lovelyn Anyanwu, Ndubuisi Ogbonna, Bene Obinwe and Pastor ThankGod Okafor were full of praises to God for using Ikpeazu to lift them from poverty.