As part of activities to celebrate his Diamond Jubilee birthday, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Chemstar Group, Dr Emmanuel Awode, has doled out N20 million to some members of his church, Cherubim & Seraphim Movement Church, Divine Blessing Cathedral (DBC), Alagbado, Lagos.
The N20 million, which was presented to the 20 beneficiaries on Sunday during the thanksgiving service to mark his birthday through his pet project, the Remi Awode Foundation (RAF), which was instituted in 2013 to empower members of the church, award university scholarships and provide other forms of humanitarian services to the less-privileged in the society.
Chemstar Group is the parent company of Chemstar Paints Industry Nigeria Limited, manufacturer of Finecoat and Shield Paints brand of paints and other allied products, as well as other subsidiaries.
Presenting the cheques, Awode, who clocked 60 years on September 7, said the N1 million gift to each of the 20 recipients was primarily to assist and boost their businesses, in line with his yearly programme and commitment to reduce poverty among the members of the church.
To monitor and ensure judicious use of the N1 million, the Foundation, he stated further, would not be handing over whole cash to the beneficiaries; as part of it would be used or spent to buy materials and items for the beneficiaries depending on their areas of businesses or trades.
“The Foundation made the decision based on previous years’ experience in which such money or grants received under RAF to empower the recipients were not usually used for the purpose the empowerment grant is meant for as the money is diverted to other things, thereby not achieving the purpose the Foundation was set up,” he noted.
Also, to celebrate the birthday, Awode had in May sponsored 75 people, consisting of members of C&S Movement Church, associates, family members and friends on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with all expenses paid.