Date: 2021-07-19

A non-governmental organisation, the Care and Compassion Network (CCNetwork) has bemoaned the prevalence of poverty in the country, adding that the number of Nigerians suffering are increasing daily.

CCNetwork Director-General, Waliyulah Olayiwola, stated this while reeling out achievements of the NGO in the last six months.

Olayiwola, in the statement, lamented that in the country, many people cannot afford to take care of their health because healthcare is expensive for the downtrodden.

He said: "It hurts me to see poverty in the land. Our people are suffering. Inflation has affected many people. Few have a job paying them a meager salary. Unfortunately, these little salaries have not grown up to the price of commodities that have skyrocketed. We have to change this."

He said that the alarm indices informed the decision of the network to reach out to those in need in the society, noting that "we have to step in and assist in any way we can."

He added that "basic amenities are no longer basic. Water should be the least of people's worries. I am pained to see that many communities lack potable water. Many of them drink dirty water giving them sickness. We have to align our goals with that of the United Nations' sustainable development goals and embark on water projects for rural communities in Nigeria.

"Very few people know the opportunity that they can get in the online world by having digital skills like writing. We have to alleviate poverty in the land by training the populace to embrace digital skills."

Olayiwola listed the activities of the network in the first six months of 2021 to include the construction of two wells in Ogidi community in Oyo State as part of making clean water accessible to the residents and creating the beginning of a new healthy life for them.

As part of the effort to support the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), he said CCNetwork organized a 4-hour workshop for some secondary school leavers in April and obtained JAMB UTME forms for 20 of them from Oyo, Ogun, Osun, and Kwara states.

He added that a 5th-year medical student from Kaduna State University, Mr. Bashar Salihu who found it difficult to pay his tuition for two sessions and was on the verge of losing his studentship applied for a grant of N50,000 with us towards this exigency and his request was granted while N20,000 was given to Mrs. Maryam Saheed who had some challenges with her business and needs to settle her school fee and N16,000 was donated to Ms. Maryam Akande of Ogun State College of Health as tuition fee support.

Olayiwola also noted that N50,000 was also given to a woman for her treatment and upkeep after she had an accident sometime last year and was treated with hot water massage and paracetamol because she couldn't get proper treatment.

Others who benefited from healthcare grants are Mr. Alaba Muili Adedeji who had an accident in 2019 and sustained injuries and was supported with N25,000 and an 11-year-old boy who dropped out of school due to the inability of his parents to afford medical treatment for his fractured leg. The boy was supported with N10,000.