The Chairman of Abeokuta North Local Government, Lanre Oyegbola-Sodipo, and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Ibrahim Quadri, have emphasised the need for Nigerians to embrace selflessness and support one another to reduce poverty at the grassroots.
The local government chairman and Quadri made the call on Saturday while speaking during an empowerment programme organised by the Eniobanke Foundation, during which over 150 traders and artisans were supported with cash grants of N100,000 each.
The foundation also empowered 50 tertiary institution students who are indigenes of the state with N50,000 bursaries each, as well as laptops for ten students with the best CGPA.
Oyegbola-Sodipo lamented that, more often than not, people who are given opportunities tend to corner them for personal gain, maintaining that this selfish disposition has prevented the dividends of democracy from reaching the grassroots.
He explained that, “One of our major problems is that many Nigerians are not always ready to allow the opportunity that they have to flow back to the people at the grassroots. They have forgotten that those opportunities were given to them so that others can also benefit from them; that is how we can make the country better.
“That is exactly the lesson we should all take away from this empowerment programme. The initiator of this selfless act believes that he has been given the opportunity, and he is reaching out to the women, the artisans and the students in the state.
“He is very young and should have been busy with a grabbing mentality, but here he is impacting humanity. We all must imbibe this selfless culture of providing a support system for one another to complement whatever the government is doing to also make the society better.
“Over 200 people, including the students, are being empowered here. We also at the local government just empowered over 200 women, so if the chain continues, I am sure the country will be a lot better.”
The Abuja-based businessman and founder of the foundation, Quadri, said the intervention was borne out of his conviction to give back to society and uplift humanity.
He disclosed that, “It’s my strong belief that we should learn to support one another; it is what we have always done. So this time around we said that we should reach out to our market women and artisans, we should train them on money management and give them cash grants to boost their trade.
“We are equally supporting 50 students with N50,000 each as bursaries, and we hope to be giving them every session. It’s all about complementing what the government is doing at both the state and federal levels to make life more rewarding for all.”
Quadri hailed President Bola Tinubu for creating an enabling environment for business to thrive in the country, calling on people to intensify their support and cooperation for the president in his determined bid to take the country to a higher height.
Also speaking at the event, Babatunde Tella, representing Abeokuta North at the State House of Assembly, lauded the foundation for deeming it fit to invest in women and support students to ease the financial burden of their educational pursuits.
Tella said the obvious lesson to learn is that personal interventions such as the one being exemplified by the Eniobanke Foundation would go a long way in making life more comfortable for people at the grassroots.
The chairman of the All Progressives Congress in the local government, Alhaja Faidat Sarumi, also Quadri, for sparing a thought for the people at the grassroots, adding that the cash grant would no doubt help to further boost the beneficiaries’ trades.
Sarumi urged the beneficiaries to strictly use the cash benefits to grow their businesses, warning them not to divert the money to unproductive ventures.
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