IBADAN – A call has been made to all well meaning Nigerians, Including political office holders, government at all levels, individuals and organizations on the need to institutionalized a sustainable impactful empowerment schemes that will upgrade the lives of the less privileged in the society.
The Chairman of Oyo State Project Performance Monitoring Agency, Engineer Muftau Open-Salawu, gave the charge at an empowerment program to alleviate five people from poverty to millionaires, held in Sabo Area of Ogbomosho, Oyo State.
Engineer Open-Salawu who admitted that poverty rate in Nigeria can not be reduced through distribution of meager finance and food rather suggested a sustainable and impactful empowerment schemes that can create job and wealth for the less privileged in the society.
He noted that such gesture will not only assist the vulnerable in the society but also would be more efficient in lifting people out of poverty.
Open Salawu while speaking with journalists shortly after disturbing the sum of five million naira checks to five beneficiaries of his maiden “Empowerment Raffle Draw” said his goal is to make it an annual schemes, advised well to do Nigerians to imbibe the act of assisting average Nigerians in their capacity.
While urging people to deviate from being a doubting thomas towards empowerment programs, he pledged to mentor the beneficiaries of the scheme that goes home with N1m each to be more productive and contribute their quota to economy growth.
The beneficiaries of the five million naira who were petty traders, artisans, middle aged, aged and youth appreciated Oyo State Government and enjoined people at the helm of power to emulate Open-Salawu’s empowerment initiatives.
In his words, Open Salawu said, “this is an ongoing activities, this is not the first time perhaps this is another one that came through social media awareness, have been doing this for long, it doesn’t just started now, some years back we gave people 50 motorcycles, food, money support, educational support, these are not something I keep in the dairy record, I just do it as it come to my mind.
“As a politician there’s nothing you do that motive can’t be attached to it, the fact remain that if God bless you try to give back to the community, if you go to my website you will see a word there” build the people free the nation”. It is my intention to develop people around me, few weeks back, we organized a scholarship for some ingenious student, have being doing that for seven years now.
“We pick those children from primary school, first set are from Molete Primary School in south and they have just written their WAEC, unfortunate it only two of them that pass the jamb, am still in discussion with the VC of LAUTECH and I hope that they gain admission to LAUTECH, if not Ayede polytechnic for them, 2 out of the first set of the 20 students that were giving lifeline scholarship, have just finished their primary schools.
“I do everything with passion and because we don’t know what will be the effect of what we do. I try to do my best in any area I find myself.
“Nigerians are very short in memory, what we did now may not really count in 2027, so I don’t bank on that. People should be more politically conscious in taking decision, look and see the best people that can represent them. Sometimes I ask myself, how ready are we in Nigeria, do we really know what we want. It’s us that will cry for hunger, it us that will cry for power, it’s us that will cry for power, poor education and we’ll still pick people that are not capable, maybe it’s our hereditary to continue in that line but as we are, we’ll continue to do what we need to do, we know that one day, it’ll count for us.
“Things are very tough, Nigeria is not funny right now, everybody is crying, both the rich and poor, it depends on the angle in which you’re hitting by this economy situation.
“Nigeria is a very peaceful country, this inflation and economic instability can’t happy anywhere in the world, we’ve seen country offspring protesting, violents spring up just because of little inflation but still Nigerians absolved it, we’ve that adaptation to absolve things and change.”
“The economy situation we currently have the country is so bad because of our level of importation and the exchange rate drives importation, definitely prices of things are not stable and our earning is so little. It’s everybody that is feeling it, I pray people at the helm of economy should be able to think out of it. There’s limitation to what people like us could say, if we say too much, it’ll bring a kind of critics from opposition.”
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“I don’t know how the poverty rate could be reduced by distributing money in a way FG are doing it because when people feel so bad hungry and angry, and government and a bag of rice, how does it solve the problem, it’s something that’s limited, it’ll get finished, so when it finish you become angry again. There’s more thinking that should go into it, if FG decide and pick just six locations from the six geographical zones and put equal amount of money to establish certain things that will create wealth, job, there’ll be more impact on that, the long time effort of it will be more felt than what we have now.”
“I pray to be able to do it annually, it’s a factor of good health and stable income would influence its continuity. My advice to people that has money is that, try to extend and expand your coast, try to see the number of people you can assist in your life. Anywhere you go, be good, there’s nothing you lost in doing good, and as for those beneficiaries of one million naira each, we’re going to mentor, guide them, we don’t want the money to go down the drain, we’ll see how we can create some input in their business in term of management structure.” Open Salawu said.
The 64 year old Asanat Jimoh who won one million naira spoke with journalists with tears of joy on behalf of the rest four new millionaires commended Engr. Open Salawu for his kind gesture. She also lauded the transparency manner of conduct of the raffle which gave her the opportunity to be among the beneficiaries.
The event featured raffle draw, presentation of symbolic cheque to five newly millionaires in Ogbomosho, cash awards of five thousand naira to every participants randomly picked across the town.