The Care People Foundation on Sunday, December 10, 2024 held this year’s edition of its annual carnival for the orphans, widows, motherless as well as other less-privileged people in the society.
The event, which took place at the Care People Foundation Orphanage Home on Ibadan-Lagos Expressway in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, saw pupils from over 25 orphanage homes and schools for people living with disability in and around Ibadan participating in the programmes at the carnival.
Care People Foundation gave support to 100 widows in forms of clothing and foodstuffs and feted school children with physical disabilities as well as other guests in the spirit of Yuletide.
It also made free donation of wheelchairs to people living with disabilities, as well as sewing machines, foodstuffs, grinding machines for other less privileged people in the society.
Care People Foundation in conjunction with Solape Animasahun Foundation also gave N4 million scholarship to 35 indigent students from various tertiary institutions in the country.
Speaking at the occasion, President of the Foundation, Rev. Paul Tunde Tioluwani, urged the Federal Government to put in place welfare programmes for the less privileged in the society, especially the widows, orphans and people living with physical disability.
He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ease the pain of Nigerians, saying the people on the streets of Nigerians are not smiling at all.
He said, “The role of leadership is to come and fix problems and not to compound it. Before the advent of this administration, Nigerians were already passing through hell. When President Tinubu assumed power, he brought the issue of removal of subsidy on petroleum products and this brought additional pain on the populace.
“Government must introduce policies that will ease the pains of Nigerians. Government must encourage farming. We need to go back to policies like ‘ Operations Feed the Nation’ and the Green Revolution, to encourage individuals to go into subsistence farming.
“The President and his cabinet must put on their thinking caps, think outside of the box and assist the ordinary Nigerians, who are finding it difficult to survive.”
Speaking on the activities of the foundation, Tioluwani said this year’s edition of the carnival is the 33rd, adding that the programme started in 1999.
He averred, “Since the inception of the Foundation in 1990, to the glory of God, we have imparted thousands of helpless people in Nigeria, given out over 2000 scholarship awards to indigent students in Nigerian tertiary institutions, established a multi-million naira orphanage with about 100 children and have trained about 10 graduates from this facility with two fresh graduates.”
He said due to the harsh economic situation currently plaguing the Nigerian society, it has become increasingly difficult to help the poor and the needy, but insisted that “out of sacrifice and Biblical injunction, we made it a compulsion against all odds to make this year’s event a reality, knowing fully well that he that showeth mercy will obtain mercy.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion and former Vice Chancellor of the Bells University, Ota, Ogun State, Professor Isaac Adeyemi, said Tinubu’s government should as part of its Renewed Hope Agenda renew hope for the physically challenged people in the country.
He said the Renewed Hope Agenda should be all encompassing, adding that the programme should be able to take care of the orphans, widows and the physically challenged people.
Adeyemi said concrete steps should be taking to ensure that these groups of people have rekindled hope in this austere time.
