Owerri – The wife of Imo governor, Mrs Nkechi Okorocha, has said that she had built and furnished 152 two-bedroom bungalows for indigent widows and orphans.
Speaking during a breakfast session with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Imo council of the Nigeria Union Journalists in Owerri on Wednesday, Okorocha said the gesture was made possible through her vision christened “She Needs A Roof Project’’.
She said that the project was an arm of her pet project, Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI).
The governor’s wife said the project was designed to arrest the ugly scenario of homelessness being faced by indigent widows and orphans in the society.
Okorocha said the beneficiaries cut across the 27 local government areas.
She said that many of the widows were living in shanties or make-shift houses and did not have children or relatives to fall back on.
She said that with the project, vulnerable individuals were singing new songs as their lives had been entirely transformed for the better.
“The challenge of widowhood in our communities is overwhelming and heart-breaking.
“Their sudden change of status and the devastating impact this has on their social and economic well-being cannot be over-stated.
“Most widows find themselves homeless particularly if their husbands, before their deaths, had no homes of their own,’’ she said.
She described shelter as fundamental to human existence which not only protected a person from bad weather but provided him with a basic sense of security.
Okorocha said the aim of the forum was to sensitise members of the public to support the project.
She called for partnership between the project handlers and the media for the project to reach the nooks and crannies of the society.
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“The mission is to give the indigent a sense of belonging and rehabilitate them through the provision of shelter.
“It is also to give succour to the downtrodden thereby encouraging and assuring them that their tomorrow will be better,’’ she said.
The governor’s wife also said that she had skills acquisition centres where women were engaged in the acquisition of various skills for self-empowerment.
She also has the “Nneoma Kitchen’’, a programme to bring back the culture of giving back to the society, especially through feeding.
Okorocha said that recently, 6,000 indigent people in the state were provided with food and some other valuable items.
The governor’s wife said she also instituted a programme for students, especially prefects in various secondary schools, and for the girl-child to inculcate leadership values and moral education in them.
She called on spirited and philanthropic individuals to assist indigent women who were still in their hundreds across the state. (NAN)
