DESOPADEC M.D/CEO OLOROGUN WILLIAMS MAKINDE ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUPPORT SEEDS INITIATIVES PROGRAM 2015-2018.
The managing Director /CEO Of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC ) Olorogun Williams Makinde is a Philanthropist extraordinary who’s vision is to support and empower the poor and downtrodden ones in the society, especially the Women and children. Across Oghara Kingdom, the entire Ethiope west local government Area ,and the Entire Delta State his entrepreneurship and social support programs cut across different ages.
Olorogun Williams Makinde support initiatives for the poor since 2015 till now has been judged to be one of the best among other individual empowerment programs in the state. His choice of scholarship award programs over the years have given hope to hundreds of young boys and girls on yearly bases, especially those that couldn’t have afforded university education by the reasoning of their family poor backgrounds, are now in different tertiary institutions across Nigeria courtsey of his education support program initiative.
Besides the scholarship award for universities degree program to deserving boys and girls across Oghara kingdom and beyond, his other humanitarian initiatives have taken a wider dimension over these years, as his continued quest to reach and touch more lives stands him taller from among other philanthropists considering the highlights of his humanitarian supports programs to individuals and some corporate bodies beginning with the federal prisons sapele, in Delta State.
The visit of Olorogun Williams Makinde to the sapele prisons command left much pains and worries in his heart than he expected. The level of infrastructural decay within the prisons facility was alarming and as a true philanthropist, chief Makinde did not just lament his experiences, rather he chooses to personally intervene with award of contracts for the renovation and equipping of some of the facilities within the prison.
Today the sapele federal prison command wears new look in some of its units, he personally took major repairs of the following; the laundry unit to the renovation of the kitchen and toilets, the tailoring unit, the barbing saloon, the electrical installation and the soap making units were all renovated and equipped with all necessary leaning kits and tools for the inmates to lean a skill while serving their jail terms.
To take his humanitarian support further he donated sleeping mattresses out of his window heart to all the inmates in the prison, trained them on ICT and computer engineering. Thereafter, he provided them with startup kits for every discharged inmate on completion of their prison term; they are then given a starter park of any area of their trainings in barbing, soaps and detergent production, electrical installation, laundering, tailoring and among others.
Also at the sapele prisons juvenile center, Makinde also built a kitchen and a dining hall for their comfort.
The officers and men of the sapele prison command and the inmates at the prison will not forget chief Makinde’s name in a hurry, they say he has written his name in gold in the minds of the inmates and across the walls of the prison.
Charity they say begins at home, recently in Oghara his country home; the main gate to his private resident was thrown wide opened to hundreds of women and dignitaries from the Ethiope west L.G.A. Oghara. The invitation is to meet with the women and to empower115 .
As their faces were different, so likewise are their needs.
As local famers and petty traders’ majority of them can hardly feed themselves, in spite of this carefully selected ones from among them. On that day they came and gathered in their hundreds, many of them were widows drawn from across Oghara rural communities and beyond.
As their faces were different, so likewise are their needs. A critical assessment of the living standard of over 90% of them, no doubt falls below the perimeter of the United Nations defined poverty line, their commonest challenges is basically Money for them to support their industriousness and other financial misfortunes of their lives.
As local famers and petty traders’ majority of them can hardly feed themselves, in spite of the hard labor they engaged themselves over the years.
The story of their daily struggle to earn a better living is heart breaking; Olorogun Williams Makinde in his little way decided to empower 115 from among them to help them bridge the financial debacle in their farming businesses, petty trading and other areas of their lives chief Makinde said “this women have suffered for too long without any form of financial support to help them unlock their economic mis-fortunes, if we pretend not to be seeing them and shy away from them their stories will remain the same and the micro economy of this areas will not grow beyond what we see today. This is what has informed my reason to see if I can assist them in my own little way”
Olorogun Williams Makinde further stressed that the macro- economic advancement of Oghara rural communities rest on the shoulders of the financially depressed local farmers and petty traders and if the kingdom must advance economically some drastic measures must be put in place to drive the dream either from government or individuals and this is my thinking Olorogun Williams Makinde said
The 2018, Makinde Entrepreneurship Support Seeds Initiative program is just one of his many Philanthropic handshake over the years, driven by his passion and love to touch the lives of the 115 women in the first phase of the program; the feet underscored his commitment and desire to fight poverty among his people to a standstill.
Giving is biblical and a giver they says never lack. This saying is cheap to talk - but it takes the heart of a saint to remember the poor in our communities and the society at large, especially if the gesture is not for any profit or selfish reason.
The Olorogun Williams Makinde Entrepreneurship Support Seeds Initiative has been grudged to be a selfless gift from the heart of a man who feels the plight and impact of poverty in the lives of others, especially the suffering women and children.
Many of the local women have never dreamt of free financial support in their lives, their individual reactions best explained their surprises when their names were called from among the crowed women drawn from the communities of Ajagbadudu to Etefe from Ugbenu - Oghara-Eki, the 115 beneficiaries received equal a month of N20,000.00 cash support, a token many said may sounds small to those that can afford it but to many of them it’s the beginning of a new life according to Mrs Ese Ofomana one of the beneficiaries .
The 115 women beneficiaries of this entrepreneurship support program drawn from across Oghara Kingdom and beyond is just a tip in the iceberg. It’s true that hundreds and hundreds of other helpless women are looking up to Olorogun Makinde as a sure source that could empower them to break the financial bottleneck in their lives.
Olorogun Williams Makinde will stop at nothing to help those in dying need of his help. He have also picked 5 selected youths in Oghara to under study in his fish and animal farm managers as trainees to undergo training and mentorship at his own expenses which he said the project cost is in the tune of over N3,000,000.00.
Upon graduation it’s expected that the trainees are to train other for the continuity and advancement of the trade. His hand of love to many in dying need for survival are uncountable. Mr Irikefe and peter are the latest to benefit from his empowerment support initiative as received a Toyota bus and a tricycle motorcycle popularly call Keke Napep respectively.
The many examples of Makinde’s Empowerment Initiatives for the masses are worthy of emulation –but one Makinde alone cannot meet the financial yearnings of all the people with hope waiting on the sideline.
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