Askia Community Outreach Reaches Out To The Poor In Ramadan, Empowers Widows

*Askia Community Outreach Reaches Out To The Poor In Ramadan, Empowers Widows*

A charity organisation, Askia Community Outreach, has continued to bring succour to the widows, orphans and less-privileged in the society.

The organization which has been extending its hands of magnanimity to the needy, has yet again, doled out food items and cash gift to the underprivileged during the ongoing Ramadan fasting.

On Sunday, 10th of March, 2024, at Ketu area of Lagos, many beneficiaries walked home with packs of staple foods which include rice, garri, salt, sugar, groundnut oil while they shared the sum of five thousand naira each.

Speaking on the idea behind the establishment of Askia Community Outreach, the founder, Dr. Dauda AbdulGaniy Olasimbo, said the foundation came about primarily to care for the needy, especially widows in the society who always suffer stigmatisation and neglection when their husbands die.

Dr. Dauda disclosed that the widows are placed on monthly stipends ranging from fifty thousand naira to forty thousand to thirty thousand naira each, depending on their responsibilities and existential needs. The least a widow gets, according to him, is fifteen thousand naira monthly and the assistance was not limited to widows in Lagos alone as his foundation also caters to some widows in Kogi State, Ibadan etc.

“Initially, I personally took up the responsibility of reaching out to the needy and widows but as time went by, I couldn’t solely handle it because of the magnitude of demands. The list of people in dire need and widows seeking assistance from our foundation kept increasing and I had to look elsewhere for support. Glory be to God. We are using this opportunity to further seek assistance from well-meaning Nigerians to support us in this noble cause. I had no intention of registering the foundation when we started. But I was advised to do the registration in order to make it official because there are some dubious foundations out there that feast on the monies meant for the needy. That, to me, is not only absurd and appalling, it’s also condemnable because it’s a curse and sinful act before God. Our foundation was built on sheer trust, accountability and transparency. At Askia Community Outreach, we don’t want to only give out palliatives to the needy and widows, we also want to empower them to be financially independent. At times, we assist a widow with as much as two hundred thousand naira. We offer assistance to these people based on their peculiar problems,” noted Dr. Dauda.