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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Nikki Udezue Foundation recently brightened the faces of 20 women in Dawaki District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, by distributing food items to them. Some of the items distributed included bags of rice, tomato paste, packs of salt, two litres of groundnut oil, seasoning cubes and a cash donation of N20,000 each.
Founder of the foundation, Nkiruka Anthony-Udezue, explained that the gesture was largely supported by Nigerians in diaspora, especially the #Because1can group, who felt the plight of women and decided to reach out to her to coordinate the process. She noted that some of the donors opted to be anonymous despite attempts to publicize their deeds.
According to her, it was not the first time that the foundation was embarking on such a humanitarian project in the FCT and beyond. She said: “This is a beautiful day for me and I want to say thank God. Individual donors reached out to my foundation.
“Today is the founder’s birthday. She did this last year. It is a project that is designed for her birthday celebration yearly, which is to reach out to women, especially underprivileged widows to give them food items.
“We are happy that we are carrying out her desire. We are glad that Nigerians in diaspora are reaching out to individual foundations to help us with grants, food items and clothing.
“Truly, it is really hard right now. You can never understand that if we who have jobs, things are still tough, what of those who do not even have.
“For instance, some of these women who are doing multiple businesses, it is not easy to get buyers. We are glad that Nikki Udezue Foundation is getting grants to assist indigent Nigerians.
“I am glad that we are credible enough for somebody to send their money and trust that their biddings would be done.
“Nikki Udezue Foundation stands on its core values. Part of it is transparency to do what is right, to give to Nigerians what their donors and benefactors have sent.
“We are like the middlemen between the donors and beneficiaries. We only pray that whatever has been sent to them they will put it to good use and subsequently we can see some success in our nation.
“Presently, we are distributing 20 bags of rice, oil and other food items with a grant of N20,000 each to 20 women.
“This is not our first project at the foundation; we have done several projects for women and children, and we are focused on women, especially widows.
“We are calling on Nigerians, individuals, and government agencies to come and collaborate with us so that we can put more funds together; for now, we are a self-funded foundation supported by close friends and families.
“I am a flight attendant. Most of my donations come from my salary and allowances. When I travel around the world, I see good things and I want these things to be replicated in our country. What is life if you cannot serve humanity?
“You can say you have everything. But do you really have everything? At some point you become so rich that you do not even know what to do with your money.
“Granted that I am not that rich, but I have a little I can use for myself and share a little to people who really need it.”
Moreso, she charged the beneficiaries to be transparent and to judiciously utilise the items.
She expressed displeasure over the attitude of some community leaders who try to smuggle the names of their relatives who were not captured in the distribution process or who do not need those items, to be assisted.
“I encourage more people to be transparent not just the NGOs, but the people who are benefitting from this money.
“Because we have cases where you go out to communities and people are trying to write their family names on the list just so you can benefit.
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“Also, there are some people who are really suffering. And some people will pretend to be widows when they are not.
“You know some of all these challenges you see go along the way. It is not just government but we as a people need to work on ourselves. We want a new Nigeria.
“It does not just start from them, it starts from us. And that is what we are trying to put out in NUF that we are transparent, and that we are focused and committed to helping the vulnerable.
“Above all, we are resilient because we know that we will see all these challenges along the way. So, we cannot give up because one or two persons just did not do the right thing.
“Because we know there are still those people even if you say you are not going to do this, somebody will suffer from that decision you have made.
“So, we hope that Nigerians as a people, we will also try to understand that even if somebody gives you N5,000 is not because the person has surplus, it is because they remember that you need and they want to help you and they want to come and say let us give this foundation to send it to these people.
“And we as a foundation try to have everybody and put it on record. Yes, most people give out and they do not want it to be filmed. But, then, how do you know that this grant was given to the respective people?
“All these women are 20. How will you know items were given to them? How will you know it did not end in our office?
“This is why we see a lot of people put in camera to show you the things we have done. And we have a summary of this project which would be sent to the donor with all relevant documentation,” she said.
A widow, Hannah Timothy, detailed how she lost her husband and how life became tough for her.
“My husband was sick. I took him to the hospital. We did a test. He was fine. I brought him back home and after few months, the sickness started again. We rushed him to the hospital.
“We discovered that he had a heart problem. He blood pressure was zero. But on February 23, he died. The following day, his family members gathered and demanded that we should take him to the village immediately.
“After the burial, I was told to stay back home for three months to mourn him. But my mum had to beg them to allow me return to the city to take care of my children. I mourned for three months before coming out.
“Since then life has been hard. Currently, I sell charcoal. But it has not been easy. With the help of this foundation, I will be able to boost my business.”
Franca Akuba, a beneficiary, said her husband was into the business of buying and selling of cartons before he broke his legs.
She said: “My husband was picking carton because he did not have money. In the course of the work, he fell and broke his legs.
“I too him to the hospital. The family did not help. I took him to my village. In the process of treatment, he died, leaving me with five children. Nobody is assisting me.”
Unlike Timothy and Akuba, Victoria Lucky is not a widow, but a victim of domestic violence, who married her husband 30 years ago.
She narrated: “I married him as a good man. After a while, he started keeping bad friends. Not only that he started maltreating me. But because of my children I decided to endure the torture.
“The person I have now is God. I am a trader. This money will help me to buy more goods and to take care of my myself and children.”
