By Ayodele Abere
The Executive Chairman of Ado Central Local Council Development Area, Ado -Ekiti, Ekiti State, Honourable Oluwatoyin Ojo, has advised the beneficiaries of social investment scheme known as OWO ARUGBO to make good use of the money given to them.
The Chairman gave the advice while speaking with journalists in a separate interview at the flag off of the programme which took place at the LCDA headquarters in Oke Oniyo area of Ado-Ekiti, the State capital.
The Council boss hinged the motive behind the initiative on human capital development agenda of the State Governor, Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji.
According to honourable Ojo, “we take it from that point to empower the elderly. I started it during my first term in office. But I couldn’t sustain it for long. This time around, the one we started today would run for a period of three years.”
While speaking on the number of beneficiaries who benefitted, Engineer Ojo stated that a total number of 90 people from the four wards of the Council area benefitted from the programme.
“The programme has been on since March. We gave out for people to fill in their data with their passport photograph. We have the database of the aged ones in all the four wards of the LCDA. The targeted people are particularly the vulnerable elderly that have no one to take care of them.
The Chairman noted that the empowerment is just one of the programmes he’s having as he said that other programmes are coming up which will not only meant for the people above 70 years of age but majorly for widows from 40 years old upward saying by the time all these are carried out, the people who were not captured in this first programme would have been captured particularly the vulnerable.
Two of the beneficiaries, madam Mary Apepe and the Chief harbalist of Oke-Ewi, Ado-Ekiti, Mr. Lasisi Jimoh Onipede both described the Chairman as a very responsible person and that his type is very rare among other local government chairmen in the State.
They prayed that God will surpass the expectations of the Chairman by taking him to higher ground.