Lockdown: How Grace Ayoola, UI undergraduate, puts smiles on faces of poor families in Ibadan (photos)
- Most Nigerians are feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic
- Grace Ayoola, an undergraduate student, has fed over 25 households in Ibadan, Oyo state
- The beneficiaries of the food packages were drawn from some urban slums of Ibadan
As the impact of coronavirus bites harder on the vulnerable people in Nigerian, an undergraduate of the University of Ibadan (UI), Grace Ayoola, has embarked on the feeding of the less-privileged.
Legit.ng's regional reporter in Ibadan, Ridwan Kolawole, reports that Grace who fed no fewer than 25 households, said it was painful for her seeing people go hungry when she could do something to improve their condition.
She gave food packages to no fewer than 25 vulnerable households in the city of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state, on Friday, April 24.
The beneficiaries who were drawn from some urban slums of Ibadan received varying food items in a pack distributed to them irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds.
Grace said she had contemplated giving out to the needy even though she was not from the well-to-do family.
Source: UGC
She said she was encouraged to embark on an initiative she called Community of Helpers Initiative (COHI) in order to cater for the "unreached" during this COVID-19 era.
"I can't afford to see my fellow Nigerians begging for food on the street. This is why I initiated COHI which caters for the needy in this trying pandemic time.
Source: UGC
"Likewise, COHI is on a rescue mission to restore sanity in the nation. This is because if care is not taken, beggars would turn robbers and robbers will become hardened criminals," she said.
Miss Ayoola said, having realised the halt in people's sources of income during this period has undoubtedly led to some people engaging in criminal activities and high rate of street begging, she teamed up with her people to feed who really need food.
Grace, who told Legit.ng that the bulk of the money used to execute the project came from her network of friends and well-wishers, also disclosed that her team’s initiative, COHI, aimed at getting rid of poverty and hunger in Oyo state and in Nigeria.
She said: “Well, I'm not from a so well to do family. So, I know what it means to skip meals or be without food for days. Although, I don't really know how to go about helping people on a larger scale, taking a course on Development Communication as taught by Prof. Ayobami Ojebode gave me more insight into development projects. The course answered all my questions on how to go about development projects.
Source: UGC
“And, having learnt about the situation of things in the country during this pandemic era, I knew it was high time I put to work my future plan and practise what I have learnt so far in school.”
The recipients of the food items thanked Grace and her team for counting them worthy of receiving the food items.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday night, April 28, announced 195 Covid-19 cases, the highest daily figure recorded so far by the agency.
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It was reported that in a series of tweets on its verified Twitter handle as at 11:50 pm, NCDC made the announcement as Nigeria's coronavirus cases tragically soared to 1532 figure benchmark.
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Source: Legit.ng
