Helping hand for less privileged students

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Beneficiaries of COF

Chinelo Bob-Osamor, a former journalist is living out a legacy she thinks should form the basic block for rebuilding fragmented contemporary Nigerian society, Chineme Okafor writes

In one of her books titled: “A Simple Path,” Blessed Teresa of Calcutta who is also known globally as Mother Teresa said, “love is not patronising and charity isn't about pity, it is about love. Charity and love are the same…with charity you give love, so don't just give money but reach out your hand instead.”

Yes, with a deep thought on Mother Teresa’s message, Chinelo Bob-Osamor who sits as the Chairman, Board of Trustees of Chike Okagbue Foundation (COF) founded in 2008 to honour the memory of her late father Chike Nwankwo Okagbue, an accomplished business magnate from Umunnachi in Anambra State told THISDAY that the Nigerian society is fast losing its values for charitable acts.

Bob-Osamor expressed worries that Nigeria which once enjoyed peace and tranquility amongst its different ethnic nationalities has suddenly become the theatre of strife and inhumane acts occasioned by obvious inequalities amongst the citizenry.

She pondered on possible missteps of various actors in the society and concludes that: “We have lost it as a society but we seem less concerned about possible repercussions from our various actions and inactions; this is not minding our current societal challenges, but, I tell you, we are going to pay dearly for what we have done to ourselves.”

The young mother-of-three, who has for years now kept 41 students on full scholarship at secondary school levels on the platform of the COF which she independently funds, thinks that Nigerians have over the years turned blind eyes to enduring acts of charity aimed at uplifting the less privileged in the society.

She rues the ugly trend common nowadays amongst government officials, religious leaders, captains of industries and of course the man next-door who has got more food and water to eat and drink than his neighbour who could barely survive the next minute from hunger and despair.

Bob-Osamor also believes that these acts of selfishness amongst Nigerians may have created  a ‘devil’s workshop’  for some of the less privileged as often seen in the actions of the dreaded religious sect, Boko Haram that is rampaging Northern Nigeria and the kidnap gangs on the prowl in Eastern Nigeria.

“I really can’t explain what we have done to ourselves other than the fact that we have remained selfish in our various ways. There are recent incidents that had touched me most; I recollect in 2011, shortly after the Christmas day bomb blast at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madala in Zuba, near Abuja, I watched with so much pain and thoughts of where we are headed when President Goodluck Jonathan visited the site to see the victims of the blast.”

“I watched as our president stood so far from the people even though he was amongst them; the president only watched widows and infants cry to him for their losses but couldn’t reach out to comfort even a crying widow with simple gesture of an embrace to tell them that he shared in their grief; he simply watched without reaching out his hands to the people crying, while his security protected him from being touched by the people.

She querried, “have you ever witnessed the gesture of the President of the United States, Barack Obama in a similar crisis situation and how he takes up the pain of victims? The man recently could not publicly hold his pain at the killing of innocent school children, I’m not saying he is a saint but that could just mean so much to a wrenched heart because it is really not about money or material goods but your care at that point in time,”

She noted that the lack of sincere charity amongst Nigerians has not stopped with the secular society but also crept into religious organisations such as churches and mosques. She identified as appalling the seeming profligate lifestyles of church leaders and ministers who have turned their respective churches and fellowships into private mercantile for selfish interests.

Such acts, she says speaks volume of the level and substance of faith they profess.

“How do you explain the reality that regular members of a church do not have access to educational opportunities provided by their respective churches; the schools are so expensive that it cannot accommodate these ordinary people?

What about the recent craze for private jets amongst pastors of churches; whose life are we actually living or preaching, is it the same Jesus who reminds us that the poor will always be amongst us and we should take that into consideration to fed and clothe them? We must be going insane as a society,” Bob-Osamor adds.

In her suggestion of means of engaging in honest charity acts within the Nigerian society, Bob-Osamor thinks that charity works really does not involve breaking the banks but a humble gesture within the capacity of donors; she talked about the COF which she said started off humbly to help indigent children access to education at the secondary level.

Passion Propelled by Need

She told THISDAY that the foundation in honour of the memory of her father who passed away on Christmas day of 2006 started with an annual intake of 10 students based on merit and that the number of children catered for by the foundation has so far risen to 41.

“Although in one year, still based on merit, we were compelled to take eleven students. The beneficiaries are on full scholarship. This means that their school fees, boarding fees, books, uniform and examination fees are catered for by the foundation.

Those are the variables that determine the initial cost of the take off of the foundation. Currently the foundation has 41 students from JSS 1 to SS1 and the cost to the foundation is over N2 million. This is likely to increase as the foundation grows to include beneficiaries in tertiary institutions,” she said.

Bob-Osamor further said: “The foundation is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as an incorporated trustee with the board of trustees made up of reputable individuals. I have the privilege of being the chairman of the board of trustees.

What we are engaged in is one that cannot be handled by the foundation alone. Education is a veritable key for poverty alleviation and it is the root of all developmental efforts. Consequently any organisation that shares our noble ideals will not only be encouraged by us but may also get our collaboration. It is a matter in which all hands should be on deck to save our society from this imminent collapse that you now hear people talk about.”

She speaks of her late father’s enduring ideals as been the driving force in her to keep up the foundation.

"My father was phenomenal.  For a man with little formal education to attain the height he did was indeed inspirational. Failure is not an option for me. He belonged to the wealthy men of old; those who really worked for their money. He was my role model; hardworking, discipline, brutally honest and he never spared the rod but instilled discipline in all of us," Bob-Osamor adds.

Lighted up in admiration for her late father, Bob-Osamor described the character of Chike Okagbue as humble and generous.

She said: “Chike Okagbue lost his parents at an early age and was raised by his sister. He supplied water and firewood to hoteliers to augment the cost of his primary education and could not go beyond elementary school for lack of fund, but as an apprentice under his uncle, he sought knowledge privately through extensive reading.

Popularly known by many as Bessoy which was his company name, he built a business empire known as Bessoy group of companies through ingenuity, hardwork and pragmatism but that business enterprise was interrupted by the civil war.”

She continued:  “After the war, his entire capital was a little above 500 Nigerian pounds but he continued his textile business at Onitsha and diversified into distribution of Nkalagu cement in 1971; his first company Dunu Merchants Ltd was incorporated to take care of this, soon the distribution network grew nationwide.

In 1976, Bessoy Ltd was incorporated and it started with the supply of electronics. He was also quick to realise the value of petroleum and soon engaged in the distribution of petroleum products considering the huge capital outlay required for mining and production of crude oil. He had filling stations all over the eastern part of the country; Onitsha, Umunachi, Enugu, Nnewi, Nnobi and Chinork Gas and Chemicals Ltd alongside Bessoy Ltd dealt in cooking gas and chemicals.”

She explained that the late Okagbue furthered his business acumen to include construction and real estates, adding: “Bessoy Building Product Construction Co. Ltd was set up and it constructed so many buildings for the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA) Abuja.

“My father also ventured into supply of scientific products with Bessoy Scientific Supply Co. Ltd that equipped secondary and university laboratories.

“Politics was second nature to him and in the second Republic he was a member of U.P.N. His choice and alliances were determined not by tribal or religious sentiments but by personal convictions.”

“When in 1990, the Babangida administration lifted the ban on politics, he was back on the block, but this time he was in liberal convention. With the formation of NRC and SDP, he joined NRC, vied and lost the State chairmanship of the party for old Anambra State but he remained tenacious in politics as he was in business.

He sponsored and saw to victory the then chairman of the then Idemili local government area (Barrister Onwuegbusi) but he never interfered in the administration of the area council; that indicates what a true godfather should be.”

To Bob-Osamor, the charity of providing young lives access to education has not been as herculean a task as it would have been living in a society that is littered with frustrated young lives, she thinks just like Mother Teresa said that: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”