Wife of Lagos State Governor, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu on Friday, July 19, 2019 called for special care for downtrodden and vulnerable persons in the society especially the widows, with the view to lift them out of poverty and make them live comfortable lives.

Speaking at the commissioning of Patience Home, a facility built to address the plight of widows by New Era Foundation established by Senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Tinubu, Dr Sanwo-Olu said it was important for people to show love to the needy in the society and help them to overcome their challenges.

According to Dr Sanwo-Olu, “We need to love our neighbours as ourselves. There are quite a number of vulnerable and the downtrodden in the society. I used to be a Medical Doctor and I am still one and so I have seen a lot of people come to the hospital and as small as N200, N500, they can’t even afford to pay for the cards.

“Women, widows, physically challenged, mentally challenged come to the hospital without relations and people to help them out. I have also been to some orphanages and I found out that there are people out there that have a calling.

“Each and every one of us have a calling and we pray as much as possible that we don’t miss our calling. By the time we are finding ourselves in particular positions, I pray that we will continue to be a vessel of honour, a vessel of blessings to our people out there. The bottom line is that we need to reach out and help the needy in the society.”

Besides, Dr Sanwo-Olu commended Senator Tinubu for taking it upon herself to cater to the plight of the widows, just as she urged people to emulate her and try as much as possible to be a solution to the challenges confronting others.

“We need to do three things about positioning to be a solution. We must find something to offer and we must love each other. I want to commend our dear Senator, Chief Mrs Oluremi Tinubu for the vision that she has; for building upon the vision; for not giving up; for being a solution to the various widows out there; for finding something to offer and for not being selfish by keeping all the money to herself.

“We are grateful that we have someone like her in our midst who is always finding something to offer to the people. We are very happy to have her in Lagos State. We thank you for the vision, thank you for keeping the vision, thank you for believing in the vision to take care of our widows,” she said.

Earlier, Senator Tinubu said it was gratifying that her vision to cater to the plight of the widows especially the childless ones had become a reality with the formal unveiling of Patience Home.

She said the facility, which would be administered in partnership with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Throne of Grace Parish, Region 1, would offer temporary accommodation to childless widows for a period of six to 12 months during which they would learn various vocations including fashion designing and dress making, catering and hotel management, hairdressing and cosmetology, hats, beads and craft making, among others.

She also said in furtherance of her passion to take care of widows, 1430 widows have so far been empowered through her Constituency Project tagged “Widows Economic Empowerment Scheme”, while the widows of Patience Home would be trained at the Skills Acquisition Centre of Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.