By Gami Tadanyigbe
Gwagwalada (FCT) – The Tonto Dikeh Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), on Monday offered diapers and financial support to five sick babies at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH).
King Tonto, Founder of the NGO, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), shortly after the donation, said that the gesture was aimed at reducing the suffering of the less privileged in the country.
“The initiative by the foundation cuts across many states; the beneficiaries are always carefully selected,” Tonto said.
Tonto said that the NGO, which was established 13 years ago, had also assisted students to settle their fees and return to school.
“We are determined to do more for the poor. This is me. Every day, on daily basis, in the last 13 years, it’s been one hospital to another, one home to another, and even to the courts where we are trying to free victims of domestic violence or rape.
“The foundation is embarking on this intervention to ease the pressure on this vulnerable people in the society.
“The way Nigeria is situated, no one man can help out. We need all hands to be on deck to give hope to the hopeless.
“I don’t expect the government to come and change the hospital, but if I come and two other people come, that is where the growth will come from,” Tonto said.
Tonto also said that the organisation was on the verge of completing its free school project for the less privileged in the country, and explained that it was a way of giving back to the society.
“We made the school project a priority because there is nothing as valuable as the power of education.
“My foundation believes in education which has brought me this far and I have seen powerful, strong and skillful people do a lot because they are educated.
“I believe education is one of the strongest tools for unlocking potentials, that is why the foundation is doing this,” Tonto added.
NAN reports that the foundation, in 2017, assisted 200 students living with disabilities, to return to school in Abuja.
Mr Sunday Chuks, father of one of the beneficiaries, Baby Solomon, thanked the organisation for the kind support and called on other organisations to emulate such kindness.
(NAN)
