By Anthonia Soyingbe/Lagos
Ayo Anifowoshe cutting the tape to commission the Resource Centre, looking on are Tunji Idowu representing Chevron, Chief Mark Erewa- Meggison a member of the Board of MSDF and Urhobo.
It had remained a dream for a decade. It however came to reality recently as the much-anticipated Morgan Smart Development Foundation (MSDF) Women and Youths Empowerment Centre in Warri, was commissioned by Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development Hajiya Zainab Maina, who was represented by a director in the ministry Ayo Anifowoshe.
MSDF, which was endowed in 2003 by Dr. Omawumi Evelyn Urhobo in memory of her late father, is dedicated to the empowerment of indigent women and youths in Nigeria especially the Niger Delta region.
In her goodwill messages, Maina expressed joy at the activities of MSDF even as she urged Urhobo and her team not to relent in bringing more development to the region through their humanitarian service. Roli Udughan who was represented at the occasion was full of praise for MSDF for bringing succour to people in the region, as she also urged them not to relent in bringing smiles to the faces of people.
Ukoha Ukiwo Programme Manager of Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Program (NSRP) of the British Council, commended Urhobo for vision of investing her time and resources in improving the lives of destitute women and young people in Delta State and Niger Delta Region, saying she has greatly affected the lives of the people. He said the NSRP of which Urhobo is a key member aims to reduce violent conflict in Nigeria.
The celebration, which was attended by dignitaries from different occupations, also marked the unveiling of Evelyn Dudu Library and Ayirimi Emami Hall.
Urhobo who was visibly happy at the event in her opening speech appreciated all who graced the occasion. She said the building of the Morgan Smart Women Empowerment Resource Centre is MSDF’s contribution to the empowerment of the women and youths in the Niger Delta regions. She said the centre would provide continuous training to build the capacity of women on income generation and leadership skills in their communities, while the youths will get free training in computers appreciation and usage in the Information Communication Technology Laboratory, which a multinational company has promised to donate to the foundation. She thanked all partners and sponsors who have supported the Foundation in the last 10 years which have been fruitful. She however said the Foundation’s efforts are like a drop in the ocean in view of the magnitude of the challenges of development in the region.
Other activities carried out during the celebration were the showing of a documentary on “Touching the lives of the People in the Niger Delta: 10years of the Foundation work in the Region.” There was also a Lecture delivered by Prof. Femi Ajibola MD New Nigerian Foundation (NNF) on ”The Challenges of Development in the Niger Delta and the way forward”, after which a-four member panellist of discussed the Challenges of Development in the Niger Delta.
There were also presentations by some beneficiaries of the Foundation Scholarship Program and the 47 beneficiaries full of thanks to the foundation promised to make good use of the opportunity given to them by the foundation.
Urhobo further appealed to kind-spirited individuals and organisations to assist the foundation in doing more for the people.
MSDF is a Non-Governmental Organisation dedicated to the empowerment of rural and urban poor women and youths in Nigeria for poverty reduction, employment generation and sustainable socio-economic development.
Over the last ten years of its establishment, the Foundation has recorded series of achievement in areas of empowerment programs for women such as provision of small-grants, micro-credits, donation of income generating equipments like fishing boats and other fishing accessories; skill acquisition for youths like computer training and welding fabrication. Others include the implementation of micro-projects in rural communities that directly affect the lives of rural women and youths. One of the primary objectives was to be able to give scholarship to intelligent but indigent children to help their parents meet their financial requirements to enable them access qualitative education to make them compete favourably with children from rich homes anywhere in the world.