It was merry Christmas for the orphans, the motherless, the physically challenged persons and the less-privileged last Sunday, when the Revd. Paul Tunde Tioluwani-led Care People Foundation celebrated the Yuletide with them.
Revd. Tioluwani, popularly known as ‘Lesekese,’ in a festival-like carnival, featuring music, drama, and other performances by different Homes in and around Oyo State, gave these categories of people a sense of belonging at this festive period.
This year’s edition of the annual carnival took place at the Care People Foundation Orphanage Home in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, last Sunday.
Speaking at the occasion, Revd. Tioluwani, who is also the General Overseer of the Bibleway Church Crusaders International, BCCI, called on governments at all levels and the well to do in the society to always remember the poor and the vulnerable, especially during this Yuletide period.
He said that there is the need to care for the less privileged in the society at this time of economic hardship.
He said, “It is becoming increasingly difficult to be kind in Nigeria because a man cannot give what he does not have and considering the economy that seems to be going down the drain, people seems not to have enough. So anyone giving out things at this time must be doing it sacrificially.
“So, I want to encourage the rich people in the country and the governments at the local, states and federal levels to come to the help of the needy, especially those with physical disabilities, orphans, motherless and other less-privileged people in the society.”
He said that his foundation has been trying its best by bringing smiles to the face of the less-privileged people through the provisions of wheelchairs, food items, grinding machines, sowing machines and provisions of scholarships to indigent students, saying, however, that
“we can only do little and government must intervene.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the carnival and former Vice Chancellor of Bells University, Professor Isaac Adeyemi, said that government at both state and federal levels must give special allocation to orphanages and homes for the People Living with Disabilities, PLWDs, as a way of alleviating their sufferings.
Prof Adeyemi said that he had listened to the debates and town hall meetings by major presidential candidates, but has not heard any of them speaking about their programmes for the PLWDs.
He insisted that this must be corrected before the February 25 presidential election.
He said, “I have listened to debates and town hall meetings by the presidential candidates. They have been talking about education, but none of them has broken it down to segments. I don’t think any of them has talked about caring for the orphans and motherless in schools as well as the people with physical challenges. They are only talking about tertiary education. This must be corrected before the election.”
He commended the Care People Foundation for the annual carnival, saying that with the event, they have brought succour and joy to the less-privileged people in the society, especially during the festive period.
The attendees went home with various gifts including: wheelchairs for those who cannot walk on their legs, food items, sowing machines, pepper grinding machines among others.
Also, 17 indigent students of tertiary institutions across the country were given scholarship award by the foundation in conjunction with Sholape Animasahun Foundation.
Tioluwani said that the gesture is to appreciate God in the lives of the less-privileged at this Yuletide period, saying that the annual event is to bring succour to the motherless and orphans in the society.
