Philanthropist Gives Out Scholarships, Free Healthcare to Anambra Indigenes 

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka 

Billionaire businessman, Chief Ikenna Okafor, has given out scholarships to indigenes and non-indigenes of Akwaeze community in Anaocha Local Government Area of Anambra State totalling over 200 students.

The scholarships were disbursed under the Idi Ezeani Nzekwuabuo Foundation, a charity group founded by Okafor, Chairman of Keves Global Leasing Limited, an oil servicing company based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in honour of his late father, Chief Paulinus Okafor.

The scholarship which is an annual event saw the disbursement of cash to 41 primary school pupils, 57 secondary school students and over 100 students of tertiary institutions spanning public, private universities and seminary schools.

While primary school pupils got N40,000 each, secondary school students got N80,000 each, while students of tertiary institutions got between N400,000 and N1 million each 

Also, widows and widowers, special persons including the blind, sickle cell carriers and others were beneficiaries, while pregnant women and other sick people received healthcare services sponsored by the foundation.

The event which started with a Catholic Mass also featured testimonies from several students under the foundation, most of whom had already graduated.

Speaking at the event, the Secretary of the foundation, Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Ezeoke, said this year’s event is an improvement on the previous years, stating that the foundation is already in its 20th year.

He said, “To the amiable Okafor family who owns this foundation, may God’s choicest blessings be on you. What you do for the poor and the less-privileged will remain indelible in the hearts and mind of the people of Akwaeze.”

Speaking with journalists, Chief Okafor said his aim of continuing the legacy of his father through education scholarships was to strengthen the community through learning, hoping that in the next decades to come, the people would have been liberated from illiteracy.

“In Akwaeze, we want to liberate the people from illiteracy. Last year, we started our agricultural outreach and expedited our yam produce. The aim is that if we provide healthcare, education and food is also abundant, the people would have been liberated from their struggles.”