From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF), under its Touch-A-Life Housing Initiative has donated 10 sets of fully furnished two bedroom bungalows to 10 indigent widows in Oraifite, Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The beneficiaries were handed over keys to the homes worth N200million after their commissioning by Governor Charles Soludo in company of the wife of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Mrs Karimatu Mohammed Ali Pate, Speaker, State House of Assembly, Somtochukwu Udeze and other dignitaries.
Speaking during the occasion, Governor Soludo commended the benefactor for his benevolence, calling on other well-to-do individuals to emulate the gesture.
He pledged enforcement of laws against oppressive practices in Anambra burial laws, including forceful shaving of widows’ hair, just as he promised to contribute to the widows’ upkeep through their cooperatives.
“We’ve come to celebrate humanity, Sir E and his wife for living out the admonition of doing the work of God while we’re here on earth. No one is too poor to give or too rich to receive.
“Oraifite community is privileged to have men of timber and caliber like Emeka Offor. We call on everyone to keep partnering with government for the growth and development of the state,” he said.
Vice President, SEOF and President, Touch-A-Life Housing Initiative, Dr. Adaora Offor, said the project was born out of deep awareness of injustices being meted to widows in society.
She called on government at all levels to reconsider laws that dehumanize widows, enact legislation targeted at protecting vulnerable women as well as policies to ensure widows were treated as respectable persons with right to their properties.
She said: “Let me speak frankly about the reality faced by widows in our society. In many parts of Nigeria, we have come to accept as normal what is, in truth, profoundly abnormal.
“We have accepted laws and traditions that strip women of their dignity simply because they have lost their husbands. We stand by as they are forced to drink water used to wash their husband’s corpse. We remain silent as they are denied their right to inheritance and cast out of their homes, all in the name of tradition.
“The Touch-A-Life Project was born out of a deep awareness of these injustices. A woman does not lose her rightful place in society simply because she has lost her husband. That is the essence of a just world. What some call tradition is, in truth, oppression disguised as culture.
“Today, as we commission these houses, we are not merely constructing buildings; we are making a bold statement: widows deserve dignity, respect, and safety.
“I say this to everyone here today: You don’t have to build houses to make a difference. If you can speak, speak up against these injustices. If you can write, document these stories. Stand in solidarity with these women. Please, don’t be silent. Don’t be passive. The cost of inaction is too high.”