Netherlands based NGO distributes COVID-19 palliatives in Ikot Ekpene/ Abak, Akwa Ibom state

About 200 vulnerable women and widows drawn from communities in Ikot Ekpene and Abak local government councils in Akwa Ibom, have benefited from COVID-19 largess provided by a Non-Governmental Organization under the aegis of Akwa Ibom/Cross River States Association, Netherlands, [AKCROSS] UNION NL and Rotary Club of Hague, Netherlands.

The ceremony which was in partnership with Rotary Club of Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Ekpene Metro District 9142, GRA and Rotary Club of Abak Metropolis respectively, saw the beneficiaries going home with COVID-19 palliatives like face mask, rice, beans, garri, noodles, tomato, and other edible items. The event took place at the Civic Center, St. John Pro- Cathedral, Abak, in Abak Local Government area.

In his goodwill message, the representative of Rotary Club of Hague, Netherlands, Anne Edet, the President, AKCROSS UNION, Netherlands, Mr. John Akpanson said the Union aim to support and empower their people in Netherlands, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States in Nigeria, having been privy to their suffering owing to the subsisting Covid-19 pandemic.

He said, “We thought we should contribute our quota to support the most vulnerable people in our communities by providing relief materials to these sometimes-forgotten groups of people. The programme will benefit 100 indigent family from Ikot Ekpene and Abak local government councils. We do this, knowing that some of our people’s livelihood has been negatively affected by the pandemic. We hope that our support can help make it a little easier for them.”

He appreciated their partners, particularly The Hague’s Rotary Club, Netherlands for showing so much love to people 6000km away from them and also thank the Rotary Club in Ikot Ekpene and Abak local government councils for partnering with them to ensure that the palliatives go to the target audience which are the venerable persons in the society and the widows.

Akpanson noted that, the event was the third time the NGO was delivering such assistance to Akwa Ibom people since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic and called on other well-meaning individuals and organizations to continue to support the less privileged people in the society to steer this trying time.

The representative of the Rotary Club of Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Ekpene Metro District 9142, GRA Province, Mr. Ubong Obot appreciated AKCROSS Association in Netherland and the Rotary Club of Hague, Netherlands for the gesture and for partnering the Rotary Club of Ikot Ekpene to distribute relief materials to vulnerable women in Ikot Ekpene and Abak local government areas of the state.

He assured them of their continued partnership to ensure they achieve their goal of making life meaningful for the group of individuals in the state.

In their separate responses, Madam Sifon Mathew and Nsinyene Lucky from Ikot Ekpene council area, thanked the donors for their show of love and expressed gratitude to God for making them beneficiaries of the relief materials. According to them, as widows, the NGO kind gesture of providing for them in this time of need and global devastation would go a long way in helping them and in turn prayed that God should bless and reward them abundantly.

They call on other well to do indigenes of the state living in the country and outside the country to emulate the kind gesture of AKCROSS Association in Netherlands, as such would show a greater sense of belonging and care for the underprivileged in the communities.

The event featured health talks on breast cancer and its prevention, COVID19 preventive protocols and birth control.

The beneficiaries of the kind gesture in Abak, Madams Esther Andrew and Cecilia Amos, speaking on behalf of others, pray for God’s blessing on the Association who neither knew them nor are their children, but remembered them from far away Netherlands, especially in this trying period of COVID19 pandemic.

They called on well-to-do politicians in the council area to always extend such gesture to them as they usually participate in electing them to their respective offices.

Earlier, the President of Rotary Club of Abak Metropolis, Rotn. Aniefiok Akaette, promised to always partner with their counterparts from Netherlands as the focal point of the Club was that of impacting the downtrodden in the society.

He commended Akwa Ibom/Cross River States Association, Netherlands, [AKCROSS UNION, NL], for remembering the vulnerable women in Abak Local Council Area of the state, praying God to bless them in Netherlands and prayed that God in his infinite love will help Akwa Ibom children over there to continue to support the downtrodden in communities in the state.

In his remark, the Chairman of Abak local government area, Pastor Ekerete Inyang, who was represented by the councillor representing Otoro Ward 3, Deaconess Angela Ekong, thanked the NGO for the love they have shown widows in the area through the provision of food items to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on their livelihood.