Princess Oduah Foundation Fetes Anambra Widows , Doles Out Cash To Help 2,000 Women Rediscover Hope

 

 They came in their large numbers from different age groups and backgrounds. The venue was the central field/ mini stadium of St. Lwanga’s Catholic Church, Okpoko New Haven, Onitsha.Some wore white apparels showing that they were still mourning the demise of their husbands while some looked dejected with wrinkled faces.

There were others who were ushered into the venue using walking sticks because they were suffering from different forms of debilitating ailments. They all were united by the loss of their husbands to the cold hands of death – and now they are left to bear the family burden all alone.

In their despondent state, the Princess Stella Oduah Foundation decided to intervene and put smiles on their faces and it really worked out because when they were leaving the venue, they wore quite a different mien.

After filing out in a procession and submitting a form that captured their bio-data, they were given envelopes containing cash, a gift that suddenly changed their countenance. The creases on their faces disappeared; it gave way to sunshine which manifested in smiles and songs of praise they later rendered.

Those who couldn’t control their excitement broke into dancing, waving their hands in the air in appreciation to God for blessing the day and sending Princess Stella Oduah to intervene in their lives.

One of them who could not control her emotions beckoned on the reporter and said: “My son, my name is Appolonia Ezeabara. I’m a widow and I’ve seen so many things since my husband passed away but that story is for another day. It was through the announcement made in our church that Princess Stella Oduah Foundation would host widows that made me to come here. When I collected my own cash envelope, I asked to know the person called Stella Oduah so that I could at least pray for her but I was told that she didn’t come here. Imagine somebody spending this kind of money to touch the lives of about 2,000 of us here, yet she stayed away from this ceremony. Well, I just want you to tell her that Jesus’ wives in Okpoko prayed for her. She will not die young and it must surely continue to be well with her,” she prayed as she danced outside the compound.

The empowerment programme started with documentation and arrangement of the widows according to their age brackets. They were grouped in various age ranges: 30- 40 years, 40- 50, 50- 60 and finally 60- 70 years and above.

Taking their bio- data from the simple forms given to them at the venue was such a Herculean task as the bulk of the widows were not literate while few who could read and write complained of various eye problems; these came in the way of collecting useful data from them, thus making officials of the foundation including our reporter to become aids who helped them in filling the forms.

Addressing the widows, the Administrative Secretary of the Foundation, Princess Nwaka Ononuju, disclosed that the founder, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah, was so passionate about people and mankind especially widows and the downtrodden.

She explained that the package was not a loan or revolving scheme but a free grant to the widows so that they could use the money to better their lives.

“This is a way of bringing smiles to your faces to make you feel that there is a better tomorrow. We had to sensitise you people to be part of this with the help of the churches. That is why we have Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostals and other churches including Sabatherians. We also used the traditional rulers and president generals of various town unions so that even non Christians could benefit from this.

“The reason why we collected your bio data is to get your names and phone contacts so that we can easily reach you subsequently because this is just part of the empowerment programmes we shall embark on in the future. It’s all about your happiness and adding values to your lives,” she said.

One of the directors in the foundation, Hon. Okwudili Uzorka, also provided further insight into the content of the empowerment.

“The primary thing is what we have seen happening here right now. We are happy about the kind of uplift, joy and freshness that have come upon people who have been very unfortunate to have become widows. I’m looking at it not from any political angle but from the humanitarian side where Princess Oduah has this feeling for the widows. And from what we can observe here, it cuts across all barriers because we are not talking of those from Ogbaru only where Princess hails or those in a particular church, political party or state. The attendance cuts across all.

“I think it goes a long way to say a lot of things about the kind of person in Princess. You can observe that there is no political statement here and we made it clear from the beginning that nobody should talk  politics with the activities of the foundation. I will be very sad if anybody reads political meaning into this empowerment. We are talking about reaching out to people who need to be assisted and one has the mind to say let me see whatever I can do no matter how small it is but this is not small because you can realise that it is not small from the excitement displayed by all of them when they opened their envelopes.”

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to Daily Sun said they were overwhelmed by the kind gesture of the foundation. Mrs. Esther Chukwu from Nkanu, Enugu State, said she became a widow seven years ago. She said the foundation had brought succour to her family especially at the crucial time when the children were going back to school.  She applauded Princess Oduah for the uplift given to her and said the cash would help greatly in offsetting the educational expenses of her children.

Augustina Iloama, Esther Aji, Magdalene Okpaleke, Felicia Ifeacho among others who spoke paid glowing tributes to the founder of the foundation and called on other public- spirited individuals to toe the same path so that the numerous problems confronting widows not only in Igbo land but all over Nigeria would be alleviated.

The Chairman of the foundation, Rev. Fr. Martin Onukwuba, while speaking to Daily Sun, offered words of encouragement to the widows.

“I see certain situations in life as God’s will. A widow should not live in regrets and retrogression because when you read the Bible you see the enviable position they occupy in God’s eye.  Jesus loves them so much and praises any action done by a widow in the Bible. They should be encouraged and once you are in this kind of situation, it is better you accept it and live a holy life as much as you can.

“I also imagine if their husbands were in heaven, they would be looking down on them and would be happy seeing them behaving very well.”

Turing to the widows, he said: “There is no point regretting that you are a widow and you are messing up with your life. If God has given you children, you should take them as gifts and what was done today was also an expression of the love that people have for you.

“Princess Stella Oduah Foundation has expressed that love through the principal. At the same time, I wouldn’t like people to use the gesture as no other thing except for charity. Many occasions, people gather the widows for other things as if they are outcasts but that shouldn’t be the proper thing. I thank those who have the mind to help and also encourage those who are in the position to live their lives as God wants them to live it, “he said.

About 2,000 widows received monetary empowerment during the programme.