Anambra First Lady Feeds 69 Inmates of Orphanage at Awka

By Praise Chinecherem

A total of 69 kids of Model Community Children’s Home, Awka, Anambra State have been fed by wife of state governor, Mrs Nonye Soludo as part of activities marking 2023 Children’s Day celebration.

The kids who were treated to sumptuous lunch and dinner, specially prepared by the First Lady herself, were full of joy and excitement at the physical presence of the governor’s wife.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Soludo said the gesture was a show of motherly care to the kids who deserve same love their counterparts privileged to have their parents alive were enjoying.

She said, “My visit here today which is very special for me is simply to extend love to these my children whose life has not been too good to. We want to tell them that although their parents are not here, we as a government will always be there for them.

“As children all over the country are celebrating, I thought it wise and proper to also give these ones reason to smile. The present administration is doing a lot to reduce the incidence of child abuse, labour and trafficking in the state.

“One major strategies for addressing the anomalies is education. Deprivation is a major challenge the state government will not tolerate. That is why we want to make education at the lower level free so our children can afford it irrespective of their social class.

“We find it rather absurd that parents will send their wards of lower than 7 years away to live with others as maids or servants, to be taking care of adults, when they should be under the tutelage of their parents.

“This is unacceptable and we are fine tuning laws that will help us fight this issue.”

Responding, Coordinator of the home, Mrs Precious Asiegbunam appreciated the benefactor for finding time to spend with the children, describing it as hope and encouragement for them.

She revealed that the governor’s wife, through Ministry of Women and Social Welfare, had been responsive to the plight of the home, but appealed for more attention, particularly with increasing number of inmates.

“We need assistance in the home especially in the area of feeding of the children, staff strength and some other infrastructure to make the home more comfortable for the children,” she said.