Published By News Editor
Reboth World and Drama Ministry, A Christian drama group based in the United States of America, yesterday, stormed the Oko Agbon riverine community in the Makoko area of Yaba LCDA, where they gave out food items worth thousands of Naira to 100 poor families as part of their Easter Love reach out activity.
The group which was established as a Christian drama group by Deaconess Veronica Whesin was led by the Nigerian representative Deaconess Omoyemi Olajugbagbe.
The event took place inside the Redeemed Christian Church of God, in Oko Agbon, on Saturday.
The Oko Agbon community leaders also seized the opportunity of the visit to urged the government and other well spirited individuals not to forget the community. They said the community is badly in need of community healthcare, potable water and primary and secondary schools.
One of the community leader, Alhaji Wasiu who is the Baale Ori ile of the Oko Agbon Community said despite being over a century old community, Oko Agbon, has never benefited anything from the state government.
He said: “One of the things we badly needed here is a healthcare centre, where we can go for treatment or even when our women needed maternity care. The only hospital we use here is some distance in the neighbouring community and even that one is owned by a medical doctor, government need to come here as it would prevent maternal mortality. We also needed potable water, as well as public schools. Our children needed to have both primary and secondary schools in order to get proper education.”
He said the community would be more than willing to provide land for the citing of these infrastructure anytime they are called upon to do so, adding that all the blighted communities in the area also needed to benefit from the dividends of democracy.
According to him, everything that the community has ever benefited had come from philanthropists and well-meaning individuals, and asked others to copy the good intentions of groups such as the Rehoboth World and Drama Ministry in ensuring that the poor and needy in the society are catered for especially at festive periods such as the Easter.
Earlier, Deaconess Olajugbagbe had assured the community that the group had brought the food items which is made up of rice, garri, spaghetti, maggi and salt as part of the Easter love package for the poor and the needy in the society.
Olajugbagbe, who led other members of the Nigerian team made up of Mr David Adewunmi, Mrs Deborah Akinwande and Mrs Esther Ademeso, said, the group would soon come back to the community bigger and better as it is willing to contribute to improving the living standards of the people of the riverine community.
She said: “Now that we have known your needs, we will go back and go and see which of them we can help you address with a view to improving the quality of lives because what we have seen her is not only deploable but is something that should be of concern to well meaning members of the society.”
She said the group would be willing to play its part because it is aware that government alone cannot attend to all development challenges plaguing the people, and would therefore be needing that all hands be on the deck to support and partner with in the ll round development of the state.
She said the group uses charity, and Bible inspired stories to create poetry and drama skits to draw souls to God.
Highlight of the event was presentation of the word of God by Bro Adeola Ogunlade, and distribution of French and English tracts as well as data collation for necessary follow up.
The Oko Agbon, Makoko community is one of the hundreds of blighted/slum communities in Lagos. The community is which is on the Oko Agbon canal in the Makoko area of Yaba LCDA, is occupied by no less than 3,000 people of Egun. They come from Badagry, Benin and Togo, in the West Africa. They are basically fishermen.
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