Daily Independent Online.
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Monday, June 14, 2004.
Marwa in Owerri, promises support for rural areas
By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri
Chairman of the Buba Marwa Foundation,
Brigadier-General Mohammed Marwa (retd), says the foundation has so far
expended over N50 million to provide basic needs and care for the
less-privileged in the society.
He said
that apart from his contribution to the foundation, other public spirited
individuals have also made contributions towards meeting the aims and
objectives of the foundation and that it is now assisting many people than it
did when it was set up.
Marwa, who addressed the Deputy Governor of Imo at
his lodge in New Owerri, said he was in the state in furtherance of the
foundation’s aim of reaching all the geo-political zones across the
country and in finding ways of assisting the rural people in these areas.
He described the foundation as a non-governmental
organisation committed to alleviating problems associated with grassroots
people and to making things a little better for them.
The former military administrator of Lagos State said
the NGO has been responsible for the granting of scholarships to over 900
students across the country as well as the provision of water boreholes to
various communities.
At present, he said the organisation is operating in
12 states of the federation, including Adamawa, Kaduna, Kogi, Akwa Ibom,
Jigawa, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, among others, and that he was in the East to
also provide succour to the needy.
He expressed the confidence that at the end of his
tour of the South East and Imo in particular, the foundation’s board
would be able to find one or two projects to site there and which would add to
what has already been provided.
He advised affluent Nigerians to come to the aid of
the less privileged, as government alone cannot provide all the amenities the
masses need.
Responding, the deputy governor thanked Marwa for
finding Imo worthy to share in the foundation’s largesse, stressing that
the act makes him unique amongst those who served the country in various
capacities.
He
pointed out that apart from the services he would render to the poor and the
needy, Marwa, who is also the chairman of Albarka Air, should see to it that
the airline operates from the Sam Mbakwe Airport to reduce the suffering of air
travellers from the South East.
