This year’s Christmas appears bleak in many parts of Anambra State, particularly in the commercial city of Onitsha, as many of the downtrodden rely heavily on donations of cash and food items from philanthropists, kind-hearted individuals and groups to make the season bearable.
Findings show that destitute persons, including the physically challenged and the poor, have been actively sharing information to ensure they receive first-hand details on where and when cash and food items are being distributed, amid the prevailing economic hardship in the country.
Some of the less-privileged who spoke to journalists in Onitsha during the second-to-last week before Christmas appealed to wealthy Nigerians to come to their aid during the Yuletide, warning that hunger could worsen for many if assistance does not come.
At the annual closing prayer session of Ogbaru Main Market near Onitsha, market leaders distributed cash and gift items worth millions of naira to the poor within the market premises. Beneficiaries included Jacinta Moses, Joy Offor, Christian Nwodo and Emeka Ibeh.
The prayer session was officiated by three Catholic priests from St. Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Okpoko, in Ogbaru Local Government Area, with support from the market evangelism team.
Thereafter, the President of the market, Chief Ndubuisi Ochiogu, announced that elderly persons aged 90 years and above would receive separate allocations of cash and gift items, while widows and destitute persons would also have designated shares.
Ochiogu disclosed that the cash and items were donated by him and other traders in the market through a committee of line chairmen and secretaries. He said the items included bags of rice, cartons of noodles, tins and sachets of tomatoes, vegetable oil, detergents and toilet rolls, among others.
One of the beneficiaries, Ebere Aniehe, a physically challenged woman, prayed for the market executives for remembering the poor during the Christmas season and urged others to emulate the gesture.
Some of the downtrodden also said they were awaiting the annual charity distributions by Chief Godwin Ubaka Okeke, Chairman of GUO Motors Limited, and businessman Chief Ogonna Olisa (C. Ray). Okeke had earlier disclosed that he procured several bags of rice for distribution to at least 3,000 persons, alongside a cash gift of ?3,000 each, to be shared at his residence in GRA, Onitsha.
Meanwhile, at the Federal Medical Centre, Onitsha, formerly Onitsha General Hospital, some patients lamented that survival, rather than celebration, remained their priority.
Peter Okeke, who is currently receiving treatment at the male ward for an enlarged heart, acute typhoid and high blood pressure, said life came before food. He lamented the daily cost of drugs, noting that patients were required to purchase prescribed medications before administration.
Street beggars in the city also told journalists that their daily earnings had dropped significantly as the economic downturn continued to affect all sectors of the country.
VANGUARD.
