His Imperial Majesty, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi (Ojaja II) flagged off five licensed Cooperative societies as part of his Widows Empowerment Program , which was initiated earlier this year.
Ooni Ogunwusi addressed in excess of five thousand widows from across Ifeland including Modakeke, appealing to the well-to-do people in the society to assist the government in eradicating poverty facing the downtrodden in the country especially widows.
The Cooperative initiative was developed to empower the widows for a self-reliance and will not stop His Imperial Majesty from continuing his monthly donation of 50 to 100 bags of rice and cash to the widows ,as part of the ongoing plans to banish hunger among the widows. Additionally, the sum of ₦2.5 million has been deposited in Olofin Microfinance Bank, Ile-Ife as a take-off grant to enable the widows have access to loans to fund their businesses.
Ooni Ogunwusi reminisced, “The thought of empowering the widows struck me when I ascended the throne. Some widows came to me and present some gifts. Their kindness, in spite of their poor economic state touched me. I was surprised that they could still think of honouring me. When I informed my chiefs and some elders about my plan, they screamed and said to me that the widows were many but I made them understand that God is always in control.”
There are five corporative societies, which will form a union under which the widows would be grouped along the line of their occupations or clusters. Olokun, Osara, Yeyemolu, Moremi and Yemoo Cooperative Credit Societies.
The Managing Director of Olofin Microfinance Bank, Mr. Toyin Olufolahan, added the comments that :
“We are doing the programme in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria particularly, under one of its interventionist programme.
“Before anything can be released by the CBN, they always want to know what you want to procure; how you want to procure it and from which manufacturer will you be getting it from.”
