Oshodi Noble Heritage Empower 35 Widows in Lagos

It was a pleasant joy for widows in Lagos State as a non-governmental organisation, Oshodi Noble Heritage (ONH) empowered no fewer than 35 widows in the state.

The widows’ empowerment programme which was held in Oshodi aimed at ameliorating the sufferings of the widows who are most times abandoned by relatives, friends and even the government after the demise of their husbands.

Speaking at the event, the Coordinator of ONH, AbdulFatah Ogunnaike said the organisation is worried by the plights of the widows, hence the reason they choose to empower them with money to help boost their businesses.

Ogunnaike said the organisation is interested in boosting the business of the widows to help them become self-sustaining.

He said; “immediately the husband of these women die, their family members usually neglect them to their peril, worst still the government doesn’t border or care for them, having realised this, we see it as a concern and decided to empower them in our little way so that they will not suffer and go begging from hand to mouth.

“This little effort of ours will help reduce threat in their lives and help them feed their children. We gave them a token of 20,000 each to assist them in their various businesses.

“The government should wake and come to aid these widows by empowering them to be self-dependent.”

Ogunnaike also said the empowerment programme is the fourth edition and will not stop at that as he said that the organisation will increase the number in subsequent years.

Speaking with The Bliss News, Pioneer Coordinator of the organisation, Otunba Hakeem Opadijo also corroborated Mr Ogunnaike on the aims of the community-based NGO.

Opadijo said, to have an egalitarian society, the government must pay adequate attention to the plights of the widows, saying there should be in place either a commission or agency specifically for the care of the widows

He also said NGOs can be used as a conveyance vehicle to reach the widows.

He said; “The government should take data of the widows and set out a plan to assist them, they should give them adequate attention to better their lots.
If the government wants to gather data of these widows but find it difficult to do, they can partner NGOs in this regard, it will help for adequate data capturing and will reach the larger members of the society who are widows.”

A beneficiary, Florence Etuk, could not hide her joyful feelings as she poured encomiums on the organisers of the widow’s empowerment programme, the Oshodi Noble Heritage.

“This got me aback, it is really delighting to be a beneficiary of this programme, I will make sure I reciprocate this through judicious use of the money given to me and I hope that very soon I will also be a contributor to the widows’ empowerment programme,” she said.