By Victor Okoye
Lagos, Dec. 24, 2023 (NAN) The B.N. Peters Foundation has donated bags of food, clothes, and toiletries to the destitutes and special needs children in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the donations by the foundation were part of activities to mark Bibiana Peters’ 50th birthday, which ended with a thanksgiving on Sunday.
The places the foundation were able to reach out to were the home of the destitutes in Yaba-Oyingbo and Modupe Cole Memorial Child Care and Treatment Home School in Surulere.
The celebrant, Bibiana Peters, told NAN that she was passionate about giving to the less privileged, adding that she was grateful to God for the opportunity and privilege to be a blessing to others.
“It’s in my heart to help. I have always been this natured person where I don’t like people to cry for anything.
“It’s always been in my heart that when people need help and you can, and it’s in your power to do so, you do so.
“We know that not everybody has enough or is fortunate to have some things in life, and we are grateful for the level that God has brought us through.
“So, it’s in my heart to always extend help, not just to them but also to people that you don’t even know,” she said.
Peters said giving was a virtue she imbibed from her mother who currently cater to the needs of about 1,000 widows in the country.
She revealed that plans were underway to also build the B.N. Peters Orphanage home in Lagos State.
“We also have a bigger charity that builds houses for displaced people and sends people who are seriously ill abroad for treatment, if need be.
“So, for me, it is something that’s my passion.
“It’s something that I got from my mum because my mum also has a charity where she sends food to the orphanages, widows, and less privileged people every quarter.
“She takes care of about 10,000 widows in Nigeria. So, I got it from my mum,” she said.
Chairman, Leprosy Association of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Sarki Abubakar Dikko at the home of the destitute, thanked the foundation for the donations and prayed God to replenish the purse of the foundation.
He also prayed for a long life and success for the celebrant.
Mrs Olufunmilayo Bamidele-Osho, the vice principal of the school, said the donations couldn’t have come at a better time and prayed God to bless and make the foundation continue to grow.
She said the school was established in 1960 to cater to the needs of children with special needs.
“We have four classes. They include simulation, Educable Mentally challenged (EMC), and Trainable Mentality Challenged (TMC).
“We have hostles for both male and female as well as the bed ridden,” she said.
Toma Onu, a physically challenged artist, told NAN that there was ability in disability.
She also thanked the foundation for the donations and prayed that the celebrant would celebrate many more birthdays.
“I am an artist in a special way. I like to paint and use my leg to do so many other things aside from painting, like doing my make-up, feeding myself, and washing my clothes.
“So, I am a living proof that there is ability in disability,” she said.
Also, Adebimpe Adeoye, a visually impaired female student who lost her sight about 20 years ago while at the university, corroborated Onu’s view, adding that one can still achieve alot in life even in disability.
“I lost my sight in 2003 to be precise, but before then, I was a student of fisheries at the University of Ibadan.
“I got a second chance to life in 2009 when I went for rehab at the school for the blind in Oshodi.
“During my rehab, I put in for Jamb, passed and got admission to the University of Lagos where I studied guidance and counselling and finished in 2014.
“I then put in for my masters immediately as I couldn’t go for service.
“While I was doing my masters, I saw an application for recruitment for Lagos State, I applied and to God be the glory, I got the job and I am married with a 13 year-old daughter,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
