Pastor Solomon Abumere Folorunsho, the Coordinator Home for the Needy Foundation, which operates the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp in Uhogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, has appealed to people of goodwill across the country “to support and partner with us to feed these children, cater for the weak and needy, give them good education and skills.”
He made the appeal on the occasion of the first ever Edo State Humanitarian Summit organised by the state Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Benin City.
Going down memory lane, Pastor Folorunsho, who was represented at the event by Tada Ayuba, one of the beneficiaries of the humanitarian service of the Home for the Needy, recalled how the foundation commenced operation in 1992, “I discovered that the society needed someone to care for the vulnerable, including orphans, street children, children from broken homes, poor families, widows and others in similar situations. We began by catering for just four persons and gradually within a few months, it grew to 700.
“In 2012, as people fled insurgency in the North-East and across Nigeria, we experienced a surge of thousands of persons flocking to our centre who suffered so much trauma; seeing their parents slaughtered in their presence, their mothers raped, pregnant women ripped open, their sisters abducted, etc. We extended our hands of assistance by offering refuge to the victims who became orphans, half-orphans, widows, traumatized and internally displaced persons. We gave them shelter, food, clothing, emotional support, primary healthcare and quality education from kindergarten to tertiary.”
Pastor Folorunsho commended the Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo for his bold step of taking humanitarian service seriously “as this remains the core mandate of any government that values the welfare of its people.”
Harping on the successes achieved by the Home for the Needy Foundation, Pastor Folorunsho revealed that over 400 of the IDPs are in several universities in Nigeria studying professional courses while there are “over 185 graduates among them already, some are Medical Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Engineers, Accountant, etc.
“Recently, five (5) of our law graduates were called to the Nigerian Bar, and eleven (11) medical doctors, along with nurses have been certified into their respective professions.”
According to him, “our foundation has also produced a magistrate, as well as a senior state counsel in the Ministry of Justice, Edo State.
It is also pertinent to note that our students continue to perform excellently in SSCE and JAMB every year with some scoring 300 and above.”
On the flip side, Pastor Folorunsho stressed “despite our success, we are faced with different challenges. Given the enormous works we do, which involve caring for people from infants to the aged, people with disability, people who are traumatised, we need substantial support to meet their basic and educational needs. These include food stuffs, medical care, accommodations, school fees etc.
“Many of our students in higher institutions including those in their final year are currently unable to pay their school fees resulting to some of them not been allowed to write their examinations.”
He acknowledged the support of Barrister Eghogho Okpebholo, daughter of the Governor “who came to the aid of our students (Dawa Yusuf earlier mentioned) by clearing his outstanding school fees to enable him to graduate.
“We kindly appeal to your good conscience to come to the aid of the children in caring for their daily needs and offsetting their outstanding school fees.”
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