…Public-spirited individuals respond with N1m
…Patience Umo Eno, first lady, donates N500,000
For the intervention of a young woman, Queen Praise, who works in her father’s farm in Akwa Ibom State, Grace Udeme Esenowo, a 22-year-old lady and a mother of four, would have continued to languish in abject poverty and deprivation.
Reports had it that Grace was feeding her children with poultry feeds amidst the high cost of food items in Akwa Ibom State.
Grace, who hails from Ikot Abia in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, works on a farm run by John Udoma but could not meet the high cost of food items as a result of her poor salary.
But luck smiled on her as Praise, Udoma’s daughter, brought Grace’s pitiable condition to public attention on her Instagram page.
BusinessDaySunday gathered that the post has since attracted the attention of many public-spirited individuals who have raised over one million naira (N1m) for the lady and her family.
Read also: The importance of enabling Nigerian family-owned businesses to grow
It was also gathered that Queen Praise’s post has also attracted the attention of Akwa Ibom First Lady, Patience Umo Eno who has made a donation of N500,000 to the lady to provide accommodation and feeding for the lady and her family.
Uduak Ekong, press secretary to the governor’s wife who confirmed this in a statement made available to BusinessDay in Uyo, the state capital, said that Patience Umo Eno has also directed her “Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA) and her aides to work with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Female Stakeholders in Eket, to fashion out a holistic support for the young mother and her children.
The statement read in part: “The attention of the Wife of the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Patience Umo Eno, has been drawn to a trending story on the Instagram handle of one QueenPraise John Uzoma (popularly known as NriNdioma ), on a 22-year-old lady, Grace Udeme Esenowo from Ikot Abia, Okon Eket, who works on her father, Venerable John Uzoma’s farm in Eket Local Government Area and feeds her four children with chicken and fish feeds.
“While thanking QueenPraise for drawing attention to this worrisome situation and raising over a million naira overnight from empathetic and generous individuals, organisations and others, the First Lady has directed her NGO, the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA) and her aides to work with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Female Stakeholders in Eket to fashion out a holistic support for the young mother and her children.
“To start with, the Governor’s wife has made an initial personal donation of Five Hundred Thousand Naira only in support of plans to provide immediate accommodation, food supplies and other basic necessities for the young family of five.
“In the coming days, updates would be made available for the benefit of individuals and organisations willing to be involved in plans to provide sustainable help for Grace and her children.”
There has been more than 100 percent increase in food prices in Akwa Ibom State with staples such as garri, beans, rice and yam getting out of the reach of many residents.
The state government has declared the first and third Fridays of every month as workfree days for civil servants and public sector workers to return to farm as part of efforts to address the chronic food shortages and the alarming high cost of commodities.
Read also: Why we are embracing family planning – Akwa Ibom religious leaders
The state government is also distributing food vouchers to vulnerable people in the state through its palliative programme whose names are captured in the state’s social register.
It is not however, clear how effective the scheme has been in addressing hunger and food scarcity in the state
Akwa Ibom is reported to have received a total of N127.77billion from the 13 percent derivation revenue between June 2023 and May 2024 according to Statisense in its latest report.
