Wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano, has commended the UBA Foundation for supporting the Girl Child Education Campaign of her pet project, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ), with a donation of books.

A delegation led by the Regional Bank Head of UBA, Mr. Jerry Azih yesterday presented 20 copies of Things Fall Apart by the late Anambra State-born literary icon, Professor, Chinua Achebe, and 208 copies of The Girl Who Can and Other Stories by Ghanaian Author, Ama Atta Aidoo, at her office in Government House Awka.

Expressing appreciation for the book donation to CAFE, Mrs. Obiano thanked UBA and noted that CAFÉ is always appreciative of such kind gesture by philanthropists and organisations.

According Mrs. Obiano, “It is actually through such donations and support that we are able to operate and execute all our intervention programmes. Rest assured that we will distribute the books to the students who need them to advance their knowledge. Like Oliver Twist, we will continue to request assistance from you and other organisations and persons who can intervene through CAFÉ to make the lives of others meaningful.”

Speaking further, the wife of the governor stated: “I believe that one of the best ways to equip oneself in life is through education. Therefore anything that is done to promote self-improvement through education is encouraged and CAFÉ is already playing a leading role in this regard.

“We are supporting the education of women in the rural communities whom because of early marriage could not get a basic education. We now have an arrangement where teachers are engaged to teach them in select communities in adult education classes. Our expectation is that basic knowledge will improve their awareness and also empower them to lead a meaningful life and to be able to assist their families.

“CAFÉ is an initiative borne out of my passion and commitment and bold effort at giving meaning to the lives of the dispossessed and disadvantaged members of our communities which go a long way in support the programmes of my husband the governor in the service of our people.”

Mrs. Obiano told the UBA team that CAFÉ needs help in its effort to provide succor to the physically challenged by giving them free prosthetic limbs.

“We also empower young women and indigent widows to be meaningfully engaged through skills acquisition training in areas like Hair Dressing, Tailoring and Fashion Designing, Soap making, Confectionary, after which we give them equipment and seed money for start-up capital,” she said.

Earlier, the regional bank head of UBA, told Mrs. Obiano that UBA Foundation had observed with keen interest the charity works and programmes of CAFÉ and decided to identify with her to support the Girl Child Education campaign. He noted that Anambra State is known excel in the area of academics at home and abroad especially in national and international competitions.

“We carefully selected books in the school curriculum that will be helpful to the students. We know that CAFÉ is best placed to get them to those who will make good use of them. As a caring organisation we try to identify with our host communities and NGOs like CAFE which are working to help in the promotion of the well-being of the citizens,” Mr. Azih said.

He also assured the wife of the governor that the UBA Foundation is ready to collaborate with her NGO and will support it whenever it can in appreciation of the wonderful work that Governor Obiano is doing in Anambra State.

•Photo shows Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu Obiano and the UBA delegation during the presentation of books to CAFÉ in support of Girl-child Education campaign in Awka.

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