Caring for Widows as a Community Building Project

Being a speech delivered by Mr. Adisa Kabiru Adeniyi Kulukulu, the founder Guildance Community Development Foundation, at the 2017 Widows Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation Programme held at Iwo City Hall, May 13, 2017.

Our Royal Father, Kabiyesi Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi Telu 1,
Olowu Kuta, Oba Hammed Adekunle Oyelude Makama Tegbosun III,
The Chairman of the occasion,
Religious Leaders here present,
Political leaders here present,
Representatives of Unique Foundation,
Representatives of Orphanage,
Students and members of the media,
Team of Guildance Community Development Foundation,
Beneficiaries of the programme
Ladies and gentlemen.

I am grateful to almighty God for His mercy and for enabling us to organise this event. This programme is the brainchild of several organisations including Iwoland Development Coalition, Guildance Community Development Foundation, RAI Foundation, Olawale Rasheed Foundation and Team Olodo Oba. The organisations are individually and collectively concerned about the welfare of widows in our society. More importantly, they are ready to pull resources together to empower the widows in our community with a bid to pull them out of debilitating poverty.

There are around 15 million widows in Nigeria, a significant percentage of them in serious poverty and neglect. For most, their late husbands were the sole bread-winner in the family and the demise of the husbands has made their wives quite vulnerable to poverty and want. Coupled with lack of life insurance and profitable investment, a family without its breadwinner is soon pushed into poverty. This is where our society and government have to come in. Unfortunately the Nigerian government has not been able to institute a comprehensive and dependable welfare system for the less privilege. We as charitable people have a role to play in ensuring that no widow or orphan go to bed without food. We have to evolve a system that would take of people with little or no resources of their own.

Our aim for organising this event is to empower selected widows in Iwoland. We hope to make this programme a continuous ones so as to ensure more widows benefit. Today, we will be distributing school bags, sewing machines, hair dressing dryers, grinding machines, rice, beans, books, ointments and many more. Our ambition is to provide these widows with short term succor in food and long term sustenance in the tools and equipment for their business. We are compiling a database of all widows in Iwoland and we hope to reach out to all needy widows soon. We consider taking care of widows is a community building avenue. We cannot build a good society when our widows and their children suffer in acute poverty and are abandoned to their fate. I encourage everyone here to reach to widows around them and help lessen their burden in any way we can.

I will like to use this opportunity to thank men and women who played commendable role in making this programme a reality. They include Dr Adebayo Lasisi, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, Otunba Adebayo Oladosu, Sheikh Badru Lukman, Engineer Lambe Maruf, Dr Mojeed Akintayo, Mr Tunde Rahman Sarafa, Aremo Maruf Adeyemi Adedapo and Dr Dawood Abdulbaqi. Others include Mr Rufai Ismail Adeniyi, Alhaji Sulaiman Bello, Engineer Semiu Odeyinka, and Engineer Ademola Adedapo. Special thanks also go to Alhaji Badru Taofeek, Dr Abdulwahab Sambakiyu Imogbemi, Elder Eniola Olawoyin, Alhaji Akeem Taleat, Mr Amobi Taofeek, Mr Wakeel Isamotu, Mr Ayinde Mashood, Mr Salimon Yusuf Afolabi, Alhaji Nurudeen Emiloju, Engineers Lere Oriolowo, Ademola Asifat, Mr Fatumbi Babatunde, Mr Sola Oladokun, Adeniyi Muritala,Honourable Bisi Alamu, Honourable Kamorudeen Alao, Adeniyu Rufai Ismail, Alhaji Ismail Toyin Kudaisi, Alhaji Remi Ishola Morgan, Honourable Abdulgafar Akintayo Amere,Honourable Semiu Okanlawon, Sheikh Ibrahim Tunji, Mr Muritala Adeniyi, Badru Babatunde Muhaliy, Mrs Ganiyu Wakilat and Adebayo Shu’aib Alabi.

Special appreciation must go to all the organisations that put this event together. We also thank their founders and members for their support.

Thank you all as you reach out to widows in our society in a bid to help strengthen our society.