Over 250 Women In Epe Division To Benefit From EPWA ₦5000 Cash Palliatives

The world as it is now is at its darkest stage in modern history, one made possible by a virulent infection called COVID-19. This disease has had a devastating ripple effect on the whole world, thousands have been killed while others are on the verge of death.

It has created serious economic downturn in countries around the world leading to loss of jobs.

While the rich and middle class have economic buffer to fall back to to cushion the devastating effects of the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the downtrodden, needy and dregs of the society do not so much as enjoy such luxury, hence they have to rely heavily on generosity of benevolent citizens.

It is this sombre realization of the times we are in that spurred EPWA, a formidable, women-inclined, non governmental organization to rise to the occasion — to give solace and succour to those who are forlorn of hopes, to those who have been bludgeoned by despair and adversity.

Also read: West African Tour Guide Association Partners With NGOs To Train 25 Epe Indigenes On Tour Guide

EPWA provides an umbrella for professional women who are indigenes of Epe Division in Lagos State. Part of what makes the organisation outstanding is that it clearly embodies the spirit of altruism and service to the community given its antecedents.

As part of its efforts to stay true to its creed and core values, the organization has embarked on intervention programmes to empower women in the Epe area and environs whose businesses have been seriously hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the concomitant lockdown.

President of the organisation, first female professor in the Epe division, Basirat Oladipupo, said the intervention was targeted at petty traders, artisans and poorest of the poor.

Also read: Lockdown Ease: Less Than 20% Of Epe Business Owners Complied With Government Directive, EkoHotBlog Surveys

She added that the stimulus package was aimed at creating economic buffer for women whose small businesses have nosedived due to the pandemic.

Oladipupo disclosed that over Two hundred and fifty Epe women would benefit from the cash Palliatives.

She noted that the choice of the organisation to go for cash palliatives was hinged on the proliferation of food packages and other relief items that had been shared by other good-natured and benevolent organisations and associations, adding that the cash that would be given out to the women was to enable them to resuscitate their businesses that were in doldrums.

On how the beneficiaries were selected, Oladipupo said some of the beneficiaries were selected from a conference the organisation held sometimes ago while others were selected by members across Epe, Agbowa and Ibeju Lekki.

She said “We had a conference sometimes ago, so we selected 100 participants of that conference as beneficiaries of the stimulus package. The remaining 150 beneficiaries are selected across Epe divisions. What we did was that we gave slot to the three divisions in Epe and we asked our members in that division to select the poorest of the poor in their vicinity. Epe central being the division with the most members in the organisation got the highest slot with 80 while Agbowa and Ibeju Lekki got 40 slot each”

She added that each beneficiary would receive upto ₦5000.

Oladipupo, however, bemoaned the inability of the organisation to reach more people, adding that the organisation would have loved to do more but was hampered by financial constraints.

Watch Video Below: