Foundation put smiles on faces of widows in Ogun
Oko Opo Foundation alleviates plights widows with donations of food items, cash, others in the Kobape area of Abeokuta, Ogun State
Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun
By Adejoke Adeleye, Ogun
Over 100 widows across the 18 communities in the Kobape area of Abeokuta, Ogun State have benefited from food items and cash donated by the Oko Opo Foundation to alleviate their plights and to cushion the effects of widowhood and the current economic situation of the country.
The widows who had a free ride to and from the venue of the event at the Pelican Valley Estate Laderin, Abeokuta also benefited from health awareness and sensitization talks from experts on age-related health conditions as well as the tips they needed to cope effectively.
The Chief promoter and the mother of the Founder of the Foundation, Alhaja Sidikat Adeyemo shared her experience to encourage other women, advising them to be closer to God and fight off boredom and despair by engaging in productive ventures and being people-oriented.
Similarly, a veteran broadcast journalist, Chief Eddy Aina urged the widows to pay more attention to their age, diet and health to prolong their lifespan, advising that with some of them having reached the age of 40 years and above, they should henceforth eat more of vegetables, fruits, unripe plantain, fish or crayfish and less of beef, salt, rice, gari, amala, yam and other sugary products because of their high sugar contents.
According to him, with old age setting in and the body system also losing its vigour and vitality concerning food metabolism, high sugary food could spike blood glucose levels, compound an existing diabetic condition or trigger one in someone.
Aina who noted that there are an estimated 15 million widows in Nigeria, lamented the inhuman conditions some of them were being subjected to in parts of the country, especially in the South – East geopolitical zone.
He appealed to the governments and wealthy Nigerians to emulate Oko Opo Foundation and the Chief Promoter, Ambassador (Dr) Babatunde Adeyemo, by joining hands with him to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian widows.
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Mr Lekan Jaji, an author and publisher, also spoke on “Acceptability” – a way of empowering the widows to accept the reality that their departed loved husbands had gone and would not physically return any more.
He noted that getting into this phase of acceptability would allow the widows to move on with life and forge a new frontier instead of dwelling on the illusion that leads to frustration and incapacitation of the will to function productively.
Adeyemo who said he was highly impressed with the huge success the Oko Opo Foundation formal launch recorded, especially the sight of the overjoyed widows, said the passion to make things happen positively in this country and change the narratives informed the reason for the establishment.
The philanthropist who also doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of Pelican Valley Nigeria Limited, a foremost Nigerian real estate firm behind Pelican Valley Estate Laderin, Pelican’s Brief Estate, Pelican Ecostay Apartments and Pelican’s Greenish Acre Farm Estate – revealed that the Foundation is a “covenant” between him and God.
He also revealed that he has expended almost N150 million in planning the project since the idea was conceived about 10 years ago, in addition to donating two acres of land towards providing housing in the future to the most vulnerable widows among them.
Pelican boss while sharing what motivated him into real estate told a story of how he grew up in an isolated uncompleted building with his siblings and parents, with their father’s advice while growing up.
He however calls on wealthy Nigerians to add value to the needy around them.
