Golden garlands for a champion of hope

BY UKPONG UKPONG

As Her Excellency, Dr. (Mrs.) Martha Udom Emmanuel marks her entry into the threshold of dotage, today, February 10, 2020, she may wish to reflect on how she has fared in life. She need not look too far because she is fulfilling the scripture by becoming a champion of hope to countless families, women, young people, persons living with disabilities and the downtrodden.

At fifty, the first lady has her name etched on the hearts of more than 5, 500 women and their families across 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom state. Over 30 homeless families, leaving below poverty line have her to thank well furnished homes, means of livelihood and hope.

Similarly, over 300 indigent students at various levels of education depend on her for tuition, provisions and upkeep. She has rescued countless young people from destructive behaviours, led a successful campaign against rape and other gender-based violence and saved the lives of more than 300 pregnant women and their children through a determined campaign called Martha’s Pregnacare.

Dr. Martha Emmanuel’s journey into philanthropic and humanitarian services didn’t start with her emergence as the wife of Akwa Ibom State Governor. She was born into it. Speaking about her passion for those in need, during an interview with Guardian newspapers, the first lady said this about her passion for humanitarian services, “I grew up seeing my parents’ philanthropic disposition. I recalled how my parents trained many people, who are all successful today.

“These attributes and good nature of my forebears were passed down to us as children-we all have a soft spot for the less privileged. I am always moved to help people, especially the less privileged”.

In 2015, she saw an opportunity to expand her capacity to help more people. This led to the founding of a renowned nongovernmental organization, Family Empowerment and Youth Reorientation Path-initiative, FEYReP. Interestingly, unlike her predecessors who relied on financial support from government to fund their pet projects, this amazon decided to take a different approach – to make FEYReP independent of government.

This was a strategic decision that will guarantee that the initiative is sustained beyond her stay in office. According to her, “FEYRep is a personal programme borne out of my passion for serving humanity. It is not being funded by government and I did not inherit it from my predecessor. It is an entirely different non-governmental body, which has its own staff and its activities are separated from the office of the First Lady.

“Definitely, the NGO will stand and continue its activities even after I must have left office, by the grace of God. That is why we are collaborating with many international organisations and agencies to ensure that it outlives my tenure as the state’s First Lady.

“It is possible that the next First Lady of the state may have her own idea of serving the people but certainly, it will have nothing to do with FEYReP”.

At the meantime, FEYReP whose key targets include empowering women to provide economic and emotional support to their families, advocating for the prevention of teenage pregnancy and the education of the girl-child, creating a platform for promoting moral values and academic excellence in youths; and supporting government’s efforts towards sustainable development, has made remarkable achievements since its establishment more than four years ago.

These achievements include advocacies to reorientate young boys and girls, educational interventions, entrepreneurial trainings and grants to startups, health interventions, job creation and employment, donations of equipment and consumables to hospitals as well as food security.

Besides attracting an award of excellence from the United Nations, which by itself is an unprecedented accomplishment, the first lady derives great spiritual uplift from her work. She said this about her work: “All my life revolves around the word of God, which says a lot about the poor and the less privileged in the society.

“To me, the highest thing to please God is when you take care of the less privileged and it is quoted in the Bible that ‘when I was hungry, you fed me; I was homeless, you gave me a home; I was naked, you clothed me.’ This is the purpose God created for us that when He blesses us, we need to give back to the less privileged.

“It really gives me great joy to see someone crying with no hope but all of a sudden I am able to get succor and the person is able to smile. I believe it is a command from God to do that”. She admits.

Her Excellency may not have a halo over her head, yet her contributions to improve the lives of the less privileged in society deserves veneration. Her acts of kindness to those who can’t pay back has earned her a place in the annals of Akwa Ibom state.