HELPING THE NEEDY IS OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY -PRESIDENT JMI FOUNDATION

The urgent need to rescue the human race from the diverse issues that seek to destroy our world is is a great and worthy cause that we are pursuing and one which requires that all hands be on the deck. It is our collective responsibility to save our world by striving hard to preserve the values and ideals of an egalitarian society which are being eroded away by a new wave of set values and ideas being espoused by this social media generation.Those words on marble are instructive to the analytical minds. They are loaded with deep meaning. And according to that wise saying that only the deep can call to the deep, the time has come for all opinion leaders and the emerging leaders of thought the world over to come together for a serious intellectual masturbation on how to chart a new course for our world by engendering a new social order where the needy, the vulnerable and the less-privileged will be well catered for. We all need to wake up and be alive to our responsibilities as stakeholders in the affairs of where we all call home- our world and fully integrate every one into “the world family”These and many other submissions permeated the atmosphere in the hall where Mr John Adewale Adeagbo was speaking exclusively with Global News Society Editor,Joel Eletiko, when he recently spoke about his resolve to enthrone a decent society by fighting the cause of the needy through his non- governmental organization called Johnfred Media International Foundation (JMI).Looking straight into his eyeballs, you could tell that Adeagbo means business. He is out to contribute his quota to a good cause. The cause of helping the most vulnerable in the society like the widows who are wallowing in abject poverty because they have not been economically empowered by the society. The President of JMI also spoke about the need to rehabilitate the homeless children wandering about everywhere especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where wars have dispersed so many families and rendered many children homeless.According to Adeagbo, the task beforehand is Herculean and daunting. Nevertheless he is convinced it is doable. He is poised to pursue it with all vigor and resources at his disposal. The can-do spirit and attitude of this young man is contagious because of his passion and conviction. Adeagbo strongly believes anything is possible if one has the right mental attitude is of the opinion that there should be no reason why different societies can not make adequate provision for the teeming widows that are suffering because they lost their breadwinners. According to him “it is such a shame that widows are struggling around us and we think it’s cool”.Adeagbo further adds that because of our traditional stereotypes in Nigeria, women are viewed more as an object that should be manipulated to the whims and desires of the men. As unfortunate as this might sound, it is a reality of life in the country that sees this as normal. More often than not, widows are worse-off on the pecking order of the social treatment that is justifiable for human dignity and fairness. He highlighted that this itis the aim of JMI Foundation to see to the way widows are being treated in the affairs of their matrimonial homes just because their husbands are no longer around.

While highlighting the plight of the over120 million children living on the streets in the world (30 million in Africa, 30 million in Asia, and 60 million in South America),Adeagbo hinted that JMI Foundation has put in place a scheme whereby these vulnerable children who are often victims of all kinds of abuse, will be catered for and taken off the street.Speaking further, Adeagbo said his Foundation is out to assist the government in addressing the issue of social care which is almost non-existent in this part of the world. According to him “in a third world and developing country like Nigeria, which has limited social safety records and assistance for the less privileged, individuals who have no means of livelihood are in a precarious situation. It should be noted that it is often on rare occasions that the society renders assistance on a survival-oriented basis to these Individuals. However, it becomes more of a social obligation for an appreciable level of attention to be given to some isolated individuals, who might have been left out in the scheme of care and protection of the society. Nigeria, as a country, is not an isolated case in the world we live in, but in view of the direct responsibilities shared as a citizen of this great country, we are rather compelled as a matter of urgency, to give and solicit for the much deserved protection for the most vulnerable individuals, under the categories of widows, orphans and the disabled”.With the negative effects of poverty, the decadence in the health sector and insurgency in the North-east, the mortality rate in Nigeria is at an all time high and this situation often leads to a lot of uncared-for-children, who have lost their parents or guardians, and are thus left to fend for themselves, JMI Foundation is also partneringwith government at all tiers to see what could be done to reverse this ugly and worrisome trend. The Foundation has also designed a scheme aimed at putting in place a social framework to cater for the immediate needs of orphans and the disabled in the society. The scheme aside from providing shelter will alsoprovide these people with items like clothing, educational materials and so on.Lastly, Adeagbo said the different projects and schemes of his foundation are designed to provide the requiredassistance for the needy in our society should be copied by all well meaning Nigerians, corporate bodies, non- governmental organizations and all the international aid agencies because all hands must be on the deck as far as the issue of providing aid and succor for the needy is concerned.