The Sir Paul Obi Foundation and non partisan and profit making body floated by the Company Secretary of NIPCO Plc ,Barrister Paul Obi has marked its third year of inauguration with offers of scholarships and social intervention grants to indigent people in the society
At the event held at the Foundation complex in Ogberuru, Orlu LGA, Imo State, Barrister Paul Chukwuma Obi said activities marking the commemoration of the outfit third anniversary were in three fold, primarily at touching the lives of people with bias for their empowerment.
He said the first of the interventions was the offer of 135 bags of 25kg rice to support household in the town to cushion the effect of COVID -19 pandemic during the lockdown.
According to him, the donation which was targeted at offering succor to the people as well as ameliorating their socio – economic conditions was an aftermath of the scourge ravaging the country and worldwide .
He added that the second aspect of the interventions was the offer of hope and support to scores of handicapped people in the area.
The legal icon said physically challenged people in our midst needs special care even more than those not handicapped as their conditions have put some strains on them necessitating assistance on a regular basis .
The donation to the handicapped includes bags of rice and other food items to aid their feeding for some time ,a feat that the beneficiaries were elated about as they were been assisted like those not in any way physically challenged .
He informed that the third aspect of the foundation activities during the yuletide was the offer of scholarships to indigent people as continuing efforts of the organization to be a notable contributor to educational growth in the community in particular and the state in general.
The Foundation has at its third anniversary offered about five indigent undergraduates in different universities in Nigeria bringing its total student portfolio to about 35 scholarships across the Ochasi clan
He recalled that his late father, Augustine Okoronkwo Obi who was very pivotal to his being a lawyer, a vocation that has provided the wherewithal to embark on the foundation as the deceased continuously strive for educational pursuits by all
The NIPCO Plc company secretary noted that the foundation primarily aimed at offering scholarships for university education had to shift to social interventions following the pains people are facing due to the economic situation of the country and the world in general.
Barrister Obi informed the audience that the Foundation also empowered 25 indigent men, women and youths drawn from five different parishes that partner with the organization by providing them soft revolving grants to enable them start a trade .
He further emphasized that the Foundation would continue its educational support in the years ahead in a conscious move to ward off illiteracy with its adverse consequences on the growth of the communities and the state in general.
He promised to donate 150 exercise books for distribution to all schools in the area through the Foundation .
He lauded the support of the traditional rulers in the area,saying as they have all seen the program as a boost to their efforts at making the people self reliant with sound education that could shape their lives.
These interventions, the founder noted, must have accounted for the chieftaincy title of Ochendo Ogberuru conferred on him by the traditional ruler the Ezi 1 of Ezimba, Ogberuru , Eze Micheal Igwenma for acts capable of reducing poverty in the land.
At the event, HRH Eze Damian Obianigwe commended the donor for his material and moral support to the people and the royalty stressing that each time the foundation shows its kindness to the communities, the entire town feels a deep sense of happiness.
