EDOZIE EZEBINUGWU
It was a glamorous event with fanfare as the convener of the first ever ‘Ogbunike Widows Alert’, High Chief Dr. Chuma Harris Odili ( Ogene Ogbunike), thrilled indigent Ogbunike widows, political bigwigs, friends and family at the maiden edition of his solely birthed initiative, “Ogbunike Widows alert”.
In his address, Ogene Ogbunike welcomed the selected 36 indigent widows, who were drawn from the 6 villages in Ogbunike and assured them of stimulus packages that will run continuously and not just for this year.
According to Ogene, “Ndi Nne maanu mma o! History beckons as we are going to experience the first ever “widows alert” of this nature in Ogbunike. First of all, I’ll like to thank each and everyone of you for honouring the invitation to this outing even at the peak of the festivities. It is a show of love and compassion that Ogene Igbo is loved by his people and I’m thrilled by your exemplary act of love, which portrays the spirit of the Christmas season. I’ll like to also reiterate my commitment and the fervent zeal in me to always extend kindness to humanity as it were”.
“Today’s outing is a sole conception after painstaking thoughts on the possible ways to show most of our bereaved mothers, wives and grandmothers, the love of Christ and that of humanity. Widows alert has a lot of stimulus packages, which includes periodic dolling out of cash gifts to our less privileged widows, healthcare interventions to mitigate the effect of onerous task of exorbitant healthcare services bedeviling deserved quality healthcare of our widows.”
“Ogene Ogbunike have resolved to periodically review this concept and always modify where necessary to make sure that it covers the 6 villages of Ogbunike and far beyond” he said.
He said that the programme was designed to engage about 36 widows with at least 6 indigent widows per village, adding that the scheme will pay each widow a monthly allowance.
He said that the Ogene Ogbunike Movement will also enroll the widows in its health insurance scheme to ameliorate their health challenges.
“Under this scheme, widows will be given monthly stipends known as “Widow’s Alert” with basic healthcare cover.”
“We will conduct healthcare outreach programmes periodically to take care of their challenges’’ Ogbuefi Chuma said.
Present at the event were members of Traditional Council of Ndichie/Ogbuefi Ogbunike, the APGA candidate for Oyi/Ayamelum Federal House of Representatives, Lady Maureen Gwacham and other dignitaries.