NGO Seeks Partnership to Help Vulnerable Citizens 

Zeniat Abubakar, Abuja.

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A non-governmental organization (NGO), New Dawn for Development Initiative (NDFDI), is seeking partnership to help take the needy and homeless off the streets by providing accommodation for them.
The NGO’s President, Dr. Titlayo Onyia, made the appeal at an award ceremony held in Abuja in recognition of excellent leadership, empowerment of widows, the vulnerable and people living with disabilties.
She said that the New Dawn for Development Initiative has been organizing trainings and skill acquisition programmes for Nigerian youths and widows over the years.
“We now want to see how to get some of these homeless taken off our streets/roads by providing accommodation to as many as we can through partnership, that we can strike in this event.
Some of the experiences we have is that after training these youths, vulnerable, disabled, widows, etc through our skill acquisition programmes, many still go back to the streets as a result of inadequate empowerment,” Onyia explained.

 

Soliciting Support
The president of the NGO stated that the aim of the event was to seek for partnership with relevant stakeholders in ensuring that vulnerable Nigerians get the necessary support needed.
 
“This task is enormous but with support from many of you present here, we can accomplish so much. Therefore, you provide finance empowerment items, such as sewing machines, shoe-making kits, hair dressing equipment, soap-making reagents, food items, clothing, books etc,” she added.
Dr. Onyia also seized the opportunity to solicit an office space within Abuja city for easy accessibility to all and sundry.
 
“We thereby pray that almighty God reward you all as you donate generously towards achieving these goals and many more; the task will be lighter and easier, if many of you partner with NDFDI,” she implored.
For his part, the Chairman, Market Traders Association of Nigeria (MATAN), Dr. Olakunle Johnson, said the federal government is doing everything possible to put smiles on the faces of the needy.
“A lot of loans are rolling out from the federal government, but they are not getting to the poor Nigerians and poor market traders. But the VAT Direct Initiative will help them benefit from the different government programmes,” said Dr. Olakunle Johnson, who is also the Project Steering Committee Chairman of the VAT Direct Initiative of MATAN.
Dr. Johnson said the initiative has come up with digital capturing where over 400 million Nigerians have been captured for easy access.

 

A Call on the Government for Collaboration 

President, Association for People Living with Disabilties in Zumichi, a suburb in the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Abdullahi Hassan, commended the NGO for their assistance over the years.
He emphasized that the organization has been providing his association with working facilities to help take them off the streets.
Mr Hassan, however, called on the government to collaborate with NGOs, such as the NDFDI, and civil society organizations.
This, he believes, will help the government to impact more on vulnerable Nigerians at the grassroots.
The highlight of the event was the NDFDI Merit Awards of Excellence, which recognized some Nigerians, who have distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavour by their contributions towards a better Nigerian society.

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