By Chidi Nkwopara, Owerri

AFTER years of mourning the loss of their life partners and toiling to make ends meet, many widows in Imo State presently have reason to smile as they count their blessings, thanks to the wife of the state Governor, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha. Identifying shelter as an essential need of the widows, the Imo First Lady had since 2011 under the auspices of her “She Needs a Roof Project, SNARP”,   built, furnished and handed over more than 172 units of two-bedroom bungalows for indigent widows and orphans, who do not have roofs over their heads.

Some other SNARP buildings for these vulnerable persons, are still under construction in all the 27 local council areas of Imo State.

Apart from SNARP, Nneoma Okorocha also embarked on her “Nneoma Kitchen”, through which she reached out and touched lives via feeding, clothing the poor and visiting motherless babies and other charity homes across the state. Vanguard Metro, VM, gathered that the programme is designed to rekindle the spirit of being our brother’s keeper.

Optimal potentials

Mention must also be made of the Nneoma Girl Child Summit aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination against the girl-child and promote the cause of the girl-child, with the view of encouraging them to reach their optimal potentials.

The Nneoma Cancer Palliative Care Centre has as its motto:”If only the poor would smile”. The Governor’s wife was moved to provide this medical facility in 2012. Today, this vision has become a mission as the Centre now sees to the welfare of not less than 15 cancer patients weekly and at no cost to them. Similarly, families of the patients receive support in handling their loved ones, who are currently in pain.

There is also the Nneoma Leadership Forum targeted at building tomorrow’s leaders by impacting effective leadership skills in school prefects. The Forum not only held three times a year and in all the geo-political zones of the state, but also helps the participants to imbibe virtues of tolerance, collaboration, sound moral character, integrity and rich values of national consciousness and unity.

They yearly Women’s August Meeting has been moved to higher grounds as Mrs. Okorocha now meets with pregnant mothers periodically. In each of the outings, the Governor’s wife hands over delivery kits to the participating women, free of charge.

Now the clincher! The Governor’s wife has now built skills acquisition centres in the three geo-political zones of Okigwe, Orlu and Owerri. The first intakes, numbering over 300, have matriculated.

The link between skills acquisition, job creation and employment cannot be over emphasized. Economic growth is necessary for sustained reduction of poverty, but how far the growth process succeeds in creating productive employment opportunities, including self employment of members of the populace living in poverty, depends entirely on their ability to seize employment opportunities or maximize their potentials for self employment.

Explaining why she ventured into skills acquisition, Mrs. Okorocha said: “My target is that in no distant time, our students would become self- reliant, independent and great entrepreneurs who would eventually become captains of industries and employers of labour”.

She also reasoned that in the light of the present day global economic recession, it was no longer ideal to depend entirely on white collar jobs, hence the necessity for the Nneoma Skills Acquisition Centres.

Qualified instructors

“The Centre trains students in different skills such as computer training, fashion and designing, hair dressing and beauty, catering, photography and cosmetology. Nneoma Skills Acquisition Centre is a great brand of excellence and boasts of highly qualified instructors who are skilled, committed and above all, passionate about their work,” Mrs. Okorocha said.

VM gathered that the Centre’s curriculum has been developed and adapted to be in line with best practices, in collaboration with Imo State Polytechnic school system.

“In this way, our graduates will receive scalable certificates that would be upgraded in future, if they so wish,” Mrs. Okorocha said.

Earlier in a goodwill message delivered on his behalf by his Deputy, Prince Eze Madumere, Governor Rochas Okorocha said: “Education alone is not just preparation for life, but it is life itself. The best form of education is that which allows one to develop the talent inside, thereby making oneself his/her own boss. This great initiative needs not to be re-emphasised. It calls for all and sundry to support the First Lady of Imo State. We salute your ingenuity towards uplifting the living standard of the common man in Imo State,” Okorocha said.