After decades of suffering, deprivation and near loss of life, a councillor has given succour to a childless widow in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu state.
Evaristus Asadu, who represents Nru ward, is building a three-room apartment for Mrs. Caroline Ngwuoke in Iheagu village, Nru Nsukka “to alleviate the suffering of the poor widow before she loses her life to rainfall which has dealt a blow to her aged mud house.”
In a chat with Daily Sun, the councillor said that he had attended a condolence visit in the widow’s village, when he overheard people talking about her pathetic condition: “When I was about going back to my house, I asked one boy to take me to the house of the said woman to see the woman myself. When I got to her house, I was shocked by the level of deprivation and pitiable condition the woman was living in. There and then, I made up my mind to help the woman no matter what it will cost me. That was what informed my strong decision to help her by putting up this three room apartment for her.”
Explaining further, Asadu said that part of the old mud house she lived in had already collapsed, exposing her to all the risks like attack by dangerous reptiles, cold and other things.
He believed that it was only God that made her survive the collapse of her house one fateful midnight, last year.
Asked whether he is related to the widow, Asadu, a civil engineer whose specialty is real estate, said he does not have any direct or remote relationship with the beneficiary: “As I am talking to you, I don’t even know her name. My spirit just told me to make her condition better. I have no political attachment to this. It is just a project I have decided to embark on my own without any strings attached.”
Although, the councillor was yet to build his own house, Daily Sun gathered that he used the blocks he was to use for his own building for that charity project: “I also think of my own house as I am currently living in a rented house but I know God will provide my own someday.”
Asadu put the cost of the building which was nearing completion at about N2million, inclusive of the modest furnishing that would come with it.
However, he noted that it was not only shelter that the widow needed; hence, his call on good spirited people to come to her aid: “She needs food. She needs healthcare. She needs companionship; I mean little children that will take care of her. I therefore call on all the organizations, churches and good spirited individuals to come to the aid of this poor widow so as to give her a sense of belonging.”
Mrs Ngwuoke’s joy knew no bounds when this newspaper visited her, last week. Her prayer was straight to point; that only God will bless Asadu for his humanitarian gesture to her.
Narrating her journey into desolation, she said: “It all started some years after the Nigeria/Biafra war when my husband died. After his death, life became so difficult for me coupled with the fact that I was bedevilled by one sickness or the other. Since then, I have been living with the help of some good spirited individuals. I couldn’t do any physical work because of my health condition.”
The octogenarian continued: “Last year, as I and one woman who has been helping me were together one midnight, there was a heavy down pour. The heavy rain caused the collapse of part of the wall of my house. I was still awake when the wall of my building collapsed. As my friend heard the sound of the collapsed wall, she thought it had fallen on me, but luckily, I was not hurt. I moved into the next room. The following morning, some good people came and used palm fronds to raise some makeshift wall. I have been living in that condition till this moment and I hope to park into the new house being built for me by my “son”, Hon. Asadu.”
According to her, that day would be one of her happiest moments on earth because she has actually seen the worst side of life.
Source: sunnewsonline
