Kogi SSG Extends Support to Widows, Orphans
The Secretary to Kogi State Government, Mrs Folashade Ayoade Arike (PhD) has in appreciation to God for her re-appointment reached out to orphans and widows through her pet programme, “Folashade Widows and Orphan Foundation,” and brought smiles on their faces over the weekend in Lokoja.
Accompanied by friends, political associates, loyalists, members of the Standup For Women Society and her kinsmen, Mrs Ayoade visited three orphanages which are Stagi Cornerstone Orphanage, MoM’s Orphanage, and Rehoboth Children Home namely, and donated toiletries, food items, and monetary gifts.
Also, after the visits to the orphanages, she hosted widows at her residence in GRA Lokoja, where she gave them cash and material gifts to ease their struggles during this economic downturn.
Speaking, Mrs. Ayoade said the effort was her way of giving back to the society in appreciation to God Almighty for her reappointment as the Secretary to Kogi State government after breaking a successful eight-year record stay in office as the longest-serving Secretary and the only female SSG in the nineteen (19) northern states.
Mrs. Ayoade thanked the governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for the opportunity and acknowledged Governor Yahaya Bello whom she described as the state leader, for the confidence and trust he had in her and for initially appointing and bringing her on board as the third highest-ranking member of his cabinet.
She expressed gratitude to God for being mindful of her, saying that she actually looked forward to joining her husband in Lagos after completing her tenure and was not expecting to be reappointed.
Narrating the ordeal of some individuals who worked to ensure her removal while serving and how Governor Bello stood solidly behind her, she pledged her continued loyalty to remain committed and undistracted in the discharge of her duties in the interest of the state.
Speaking further, she noted that the gesture of visiting the orphanages and sharing with them started during her fortieth birthday celebration when she received an urge while in Lagos to reach out to an orphanage and gift them a bag of rice.
In her words: “When I turned forty, while preparations were ongoing, I received a prompting in my spirit to quickly sneak to an orphanage and gift them a bag of rice. When I got there and gave them the gift, the proprietress of the place said that this was an answer to the prayer they had offered that morning that God should provide rice for them.
“That encounter changed my life and has inspired me to continue to sustain the culture of giving back to orphans and the vulnerable.
And today, this gesture, which is to thank God for my reappointment, has metamorphosed into a foundation I look to commission soon, which will have a home to house orphans, and the elderly who may not have anyone to cater for them.
“I cannot appreciate God enough. This same position is the position people lobbied for and spent millions to attain, but an uncommon grace found me and I did not have to lobby or show any form of desperation,” she added.
