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Chike Okoli Foundation marks 16 years with Gala Night

Chike Okoli Foundation marks 16 years with Gala Night

Chike Okoli Foundation (COF) celebrated its 16th Heart and Soul Gala in grand style on Saturday, June 18, 2022, at the Shell Hall Muson Center, Onikan Lagos.

COF, a non-profit organisation named after the Late Chike Edward Okoli was founded in May 2006 to fight poverty and disease while fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths.

In the last sixteen years, the foundation has sensitised over 1.5 million people across Nigeria on the dangers of cardiovascular disease and how to make lifestyle interventions.

Likewise, the objectives of the foundation include using all proper and culturally acceptable media to draw attention to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), working closely with various youth development organizations/institutions, partnership with leading health institutions to provide free screening, consulting, and referral services to members of the public who require such services.

Read also: How entrepreneurship is shaping the minds of youths

In 2011, COF completed and opened the CHIKE Okoli Centre of Entrepreneurial Studies (COCES) at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Anambra State, to provide a two-year Diploma Programme on Entrepreneurship.

This program has trained over 2,000 entrepreneurs and also runs the University general course on entrepreneurship for every 200/300 level undergraduate student irrespective of discipline.

The Heart and Soul Gala Night is an annual event organised by COF to celebrate the short but eventful life of Chike Edward Okoli, who died at the age of 25, and fundraising to support the principles and ideals for which he lived.