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- To pay N30,000 palliative to underprivileged
From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of G.U Okeke group of Companies, Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke and his wife Patricia, have built a classroom block and hostel for the School of the Deaf and Dumb at Central School Modebe in Onitsha South LGA of Anambra State.
This gesture was to mark their 75th and 70th birthdays respectively, as a way to thank God for His guidance and protection throughout their lives, despite the hurdles they faced while climbing the ladder of success.
Okeke, flanked by his wife at a pre-birthday briefing tagged ‘Countdown to our Birthday,’ said they would be disbursing the sum of N30,000 to over 1,000 poor and less privileged people in Anambra State as palliative to cushion the effect of economic hardship in the country.
Okeke explained that he and his wife decided to do a combined birthday celebration this year because of its significance, stressing that his wife’s actual birthday was in March while his own is in June, but they will celebrate it together on July 1, 2024, at the All Saints Cathedral Onitsha.
He said that the payment of N30,000 to the poor, widows, needy, and less privileged will commence next week because, according to him, the money has been pushed to the bank for onward payment. He initially targeted 1,000 people but the number keeps increasing due to the hardship in the country.
The transportation mogul said that within the time of the birthday celebration, some projects built by his family for churches and schools would be commissioned, adding that there would be a tennis tournament at Onitsha Sports Club in their honour organized by their children.
“I have faced too many challenges over these years, both from the Government, Military, kidnappers, armed robbers, and other criminals, and that is why we are celebrating this birthday together. To give God the glory for these years for His protection and guidance and for the success in business. It’s not easy all these years, but God has been guarding us and keeping us alive today.
“I decided to build classrooms and a dormitory for the School of the Deaf and Dumb because, during my time of tribulations, the children were praying and fasting for me to be safe. For many years now, blind students have entered my luxury buses free of charge to any part of the country. We built an eight-classroom one-story building, four classrooms upstairs, and four downstairs for deaf and dumb students, and because some of them are coming from far places, so we decided to build a two-story dormitory/hostel where they would live to study.
“It gives me joy helping the less privileged, the poor, the needy, and the handicapped. It gives me joy to put smiles on their faces. I advise the wealthy men in the Southeast zone to go to their villages to pick 1,000 youths to empower, give them money to start businesses and sponsor them in trades or skills in order to make them self-reliant and improve the economy. In doing that, armed robbery, kidnapping, Yahoo/419, and other criminal elements will end. If not, crimes will be on the increase. Government cannot do it alone; the community leaders and stakeholders in villages should help to build and empower the youths,” Okeke stated.
