By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The Bishop of Methodist Church Cathedral of Favour, Atamunu Circuit, Calabar, Bishop Otuekong Ukut, Ph.D, has explained the rationale behind his empowering widows and youths with starter packs in form of cash that can enable beneficiaries kick-start their small and medium scale businesses.
The cleric stated that the initiative is an effort to key into the Federal Government’s agenda of poverty reduction, where government had planned to bring succour to the citizens of the country by making palliatives available to all Nigerians.
Among the beneficiaries who got the clericgyman’s empowerment largesse are 50 widows, and 50 youths, who are likely use the cash to procure data for table market or take-off of any of the onlines marketing business venture that can put food on the table, rather than continue to roam the streets of the city in search of white collar jobs that hardly exist.
In a chat with CompassNG in Calabar shortly after the beneficiaries of the scheme received cash amount of N20,000 to support their small and medium scale enterprises, SMSEs, the cleric averred that the amount, though small, can go a long way in the support of their businesses and prevent the businesses from folding up.
Bishop Otuekong said, “Our major pre-occupation is to console the weak and broken hearted, who may have one to provide a shoulder for them to lean on.
“Some of them have been very active in women fellowship activities, but due to one thing or the other, they started faltering.
“Some of them are using crutches, some were widows, some had clocked advance age. As a church, we can’t abandon them because they had been there for Christ.
“That is why the criteria we used is that they are active in the things of Christ, before you become weak. It’s the reason that we must be there too for them.”
In his earlier remarks at the church auditorium, where the cleric interacted with the beneficiaries, he said, “Don’t think that the politicians who you had been banking all hope on and society have abandoned you.
“The church can not abandoned you. We are supporting you to stand up, and once you stand up be good to the society.”
In an effort to find out if the empowerment is a scheme to challenge the Federal Government’s palliatives promised to the people, Bishop Otuekong said, “We can’t challenge the Federal Government because we have no oil money. The only thing we have is God.
“What we are doing is synonymous with biblical message, where Jesus told Peter to feed the lamb.”
