Wife of the Delta State Governor and Chairpeson, O5 Initiative, Dame Edith Okowa, during her pressing briefing in her office in Asaba
By Martina Enwefa
ASABA/Nigeria: With the recent media hype on the activities of the O5 initiative programme on international financial commitment of about $10 Million Dollars to fight the scourge of Sickle Cell cases in Delta State, the wife of the state governor, Dame Edith Okowa had debunked such international donation.
The first lady during a state press briefing on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, to formerly inform the people the achievement made so far by the organisation in attending to the needs of the needy in the state, and the attention received in New York, stated that at the side of the just concluded United Nations General Assembly, the O5 Initiative team met with the Initiative for Global Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation, and the meeting did not result to any Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, or any financial commitment.
She disclosed that at the UN event, O5 Initiative’s “modest efforts’’ in tackling the sickle cell in the state caught the interest of some organizations and individuals who expressed intention to do same in their countries.
“A major outcome of our UN presentation is the expressed desire of Initiative for Global Development, a Non-Governmental Organisation, to partner O5 Initiative.
“Their interest is centred on digitising our sickle cell clinics across the state. This will generate critical data in the management of sickle cell patients” Okowa said.
“I want to state categorically that no memorandum of understanding has been signed and no financial commitment has been made’’.
Speaking on the efforts of the efforts of the organisation, She said that the Initiative had established 12 sickle cell clinics in public hospitals across the state and equipped them with modern facilities and genetic counsellors and medical doctors.
She listed some achievements of the Initiative as provision of welfare packages to prison inmates, empowerment of no fewer than 2,500 Delta women, medical outreach to over 26,000 Deltans, settlement of hospital bills for indigent citizens, provision of shelter for the homeless and feeding the poor.
Mrs Okowa, who was flanked by Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu and Director-General, O5 Initiative Mrs Kevwe Agas, commended various public and private individuals and organisations for their support to her project.
She called for more collaboration between her group and agencies and organisations to improve the lots of the less-privileged in the society.
