The Coordinator, Delta Widows Welfare Scheme, Elder Isioma Okonta, has said that the initiative remains one of the legacies differentiating the administration of Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa from others.
Okonta said this while speaking with newsmen on Friday in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
According to him, the widow’s welfare scheme was initiated by Okowa in 2018 to reach out to widows in the state.
He said the governor placed high premium on the scheme.
“A total of 5,607 widows have enrolled in the scheme across the 270 wards in the state. It will interest you to know that through the scheme, all of them are entitled to their monthly stipends and free medical care.
“Okowa has shown his magnanimity to these widows because they are poor and vulnerable in the society and today they no longer beg for alms,” he said.
“The widows will continue to remember him in their prayers just as he has remembered them. Let’s add that Gov. Okowa has done well in his agenda of making poor widows in the state happy,” he said.
According to him, the prayer point of the widows is that whoever succeeds Okowa in 2023 should be someone that believes in his legacies and would not abandon them.
Okonta said that the first state widows programme, held recently to expose the widows to their rights and welfare, was attended by the wife of the governor, Dame Edith Okowa, among other government functionaries.
He noted that the event witnessed a session where the widows, who were enrolled in the scheme, testified.
how their monthly stipends had helped them to put food on the table. (NAN)
