We Can Tackle Poverty by Giving to Less Privileged, Say Nigerian Turkish Varsities Alumni

Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba

Nigerian Turkish Universities Old Student Association has urged more Nigerians to practice the act of giving to the less privileged and vulnerable members of the society, saying such acts will go a long way in making a difference in their lives and thereby reduce poverty levels in the country.

Where insecurity is associated with high levels of poverty, then invariably reducing poverty would also lead to significantly addressing insecurity in the society, the group observed.

Reviewing its programme of activities for the 2024/2025 season, the association noted that it has continued to make philanthropic gestures to orphanages, physically challenged and the newborn because the benefits of sharing with these members of the society are too enormous and invaluable to enumerate.

The group, comprising Nigerians who attended universities in Turkiyé (Turkey), recently donated various items and cash to some established homes for motherless children and orphans in Edo and Delta states, including Saint Anne Orphanage, Effurun (near Warri) and Ajebor Orphanage located in Uwelu area of Benin-City, Edo State, towards the celebration of Christmas and New Year.

A statement by Mr Frisky Larr, the international coordinator, reviewing the annual programme of the alumni association, stressed that “the love and humane motive behind the gesture is far more important to our members than the monetary value of the items donated.”

If more Nigerians imbibed “the age-long culture of being our brothers’ keeper then much would have been accomplished so much towards midwifing an egalitarian and progressive society”, the statement further said.

Hon Emmanuel Orugboh, former member of the Delta State House of Assembly who coordinates the group’s activity in Delta State, exressed delight “at the opportunity to share with a handful of the vulnerable of our society”, adding that the idea was far from attempting to impress anybody with the amount of money and items donated to the charity homes visited.

The initiative was rather meant to complement various efforts by good spirited individuals desirous of making life meaningful to these vulnerable and less privileged members of the society, he said during the visit to the orphanage in Effurun.

The obviously harsh economic situation in the country makes more urgent the need for Nigeria and Nigerians to reinvent the culture of caring for others no matter how little individuals and groups might have, he noted.

“Yes, we have a culture in this country of being our brother’s keeper. We don’t say we are too poor or don’t have enough to share with others. I think this prevailing situation in the country requires the revival of this culture, because that will address many problems were are facing in the country, including pervasive poverty and insecurity,” Orugboh said.

At the Ajebor Orphanage located in Uwelu area of Benin-City, Edo State, a delegation of the group, led by Prof Peter Ogundigie of the Igbinedion University, who is also the Edo State Co-ordinator, expressed similar sentiments as they shared moments of the Season with the cheerful children while the home heartily accepted various food items and cash from association.

Prof Ogundigie, who was also in Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State on a similar mission, commended the founders and workers at orphanages, noting that “God is always pleased with those who offer humanitarian services and give parental care to children who are orphaned due to no fault of theirs at all.”

The founder and World-wide Coordinator of the group, Germany-based journalist and author, Frisky Larr (Friday Agbonlahor) concurred with the ex-Delta lawmaker, Hon Orugboh, and Prof Ogundigie that the donation to the orphanages was just a gesture of love meant to enhance the beneficiaries’ feeling of love and joy especially during the festivities period around Christmas and New Year.

The defunct Bendel State chapter of the association in particular had resolved to sustain and improve upon the annual charitable programme in future, he revealed.

According to Larr, who introduced the philanthropic dimension to the hitherto purely social annual programme of the association in Nigeria, underscored the fact that, though only a little over a decade old, the group (Türkiyé Old Boys Association) has active members spread around the country and other parts of the world.

“We must thank God for the inspiration and grace to chip in this bit for humanity. It all started out as a seasonal friends’ hangout of thing when some of our old boys gathered together to share a few drinks and generally socialize. Then the idea struck one that there are numerous people to who sharing a drink at the end of the year would be sheer luxury!”

Activities of the association during the 2023/2024 season resonated at orphanages in Lagos State, Okwe (near Asaba) and Warri in Delta State, Benin-City in Edo State, neonatal unit of the General Hospital Agulu in Anambra State (where nursing mothers were beneficiaries) as well as the Poorest-of-the-Poor Home for vulnerable citizens in Gwagwalada in the FCT, Abuja, Nigeria.