Wife of Communications Minister, Ameenah Shittu, reaches out to less-privileged

By Florence Israel, Abuja

*Says the course of widows, orphans, others her priority

Wife of the Minister of Communications, Hajia Ameenah Adebayo Shittu has disclosed that she is bringing about a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), named Ideal Forum Initiatives (IDI), to help alleviate the suffering of some of the less privileged in the society.

Ameenah, who addressed an audience in Ibadan on Monday, the Initiative was her dream coming into reality.

She said, “This is what I really want and am happy it’s happening. It takes the grace of God for you to be able to reach out to people.  This is what I have passion for and it is what I always wanted to do in my life and I am happy that it is now happening.”

At an event at the Jogor Centre in Ibadan, attended by over five hundred people drawn from different categories of people who are vulnerable including widows and orphans, Hajia Ameenah Shittu spoke extensively on the plight of widows, orphans, other less privileged in the society and assured what she was out to do based on the mission of the Ideal Forum Initiatives, which she said would be launched later in the year.

Hajia Ameenah, speaking further, on the plight of widows, orphans and other less privileged in the society, made herself clear on the mission of the Ideal Forum Initiatives (IDI) saying, “Ideal Forum Initiatives is a Non-Governmental Organisation with a mission to empower widows, orphans and vulnerable children in our immediate Society. The propeller for this Initiative results from the fact that the very less privileged in our society, especially the widows, orphans and vulnerable children are greatly impoverished and are daily confronted with neglect and other huge challenges of life.

“It can be said that there is no group more affected by the sin of omission than widows and orphans. They are painfully absent from the statistics of many developing countries, and they are rarely mentioned in the multitude of reports on women’s poverty, development, health or human rights published in the last twenty-five years.

“Facing extreme poverty, starvation, rape, HIV/AIDS, armed conflict, seizure of their homes and possessions, and social exclusion, widows and orphans and the deprivation they face have been invisible to the public and policy makers. While their children often have to endure extreme poverty, child labour, prostitution or enforced labour.  Collectively, and though no fault of their own, they have little hope of reversing a life of ever diminishing options.

“One would agree with me that widows, orphans and the vulnerable children constitute a very large percentage of our population.  And due to the challenges depriving them, many of them have resorted to begging, street hawking or other means evolved by them in order to be able to fend for themselves, most of which are not healthy”, she lamented.

Hajia Shittu also called out to those in authority to always remember that there were so much large number of the less privileged in the society and urged that they should be helped in their being able to attain their purpose in life.

“I believe that every individual have a purpose. We exist because we have a purpose in life and we must contribute our quota to bring out the purpose in everyone so we can have a better society,” she told journalists.

She called out to well spirited individuals and organisations to collaborate with the Ideal Forum Initiatives (IDI) in reaching out to the less privileged.

“My message to everyone out there is that this initiative I came up with is not mine, neither is it yours. It’s ours. It’s our initiative. We are open to anyone who wants to support us, who wants to donate whatever to the orphanage homes and the less privileged.  We will be happy and fulfilled when we see helping hands reaching out to us,” she appealed

The inaugural lecture, with the theme, “Sacrificing For Humanity”, was given by the Wife of the Kwara State Governor, Deaconess Ahmed on the theme.  Other dignitaries present at the occasion were Wife of the Ogun State governor, Mrs. Ibikunle Amosun and some royal fathers from across Oyo State among others.