Writing your Will doesn’t mean you’ll die tomorrow – Eiremiokhae

Founder of the Felix  Charity Foundation, Mr. Felix Eiremiokhae, speaks on the necessity of Wills and a N30m fund that it recently unveiled for widows. AKEEM LASISI writes

One way or the other, almost everybody is a writer now. If you are not a conventional creative or professional writer, you could be the active type on phone or social media. Yet, there is a crucial document that adults need to write which many overlook or dread to touch. This is  the Will.

Like many other concerned people, founder of the King Charity Foundation, Mr. Felix Eiremiokhae, says it is a reality that one needs to embrace in order to save one’s family from trouble when one is no more. As part of the activities of the foundation, which has particularly been catering to the needs of widows, it recently organised a symposium where experts discussed elements of wills and other related matters.

Also speaking in an interview on what he considers to be a major contributory factor to the maltreatment of widows, the founder, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Oracle Experience Ltd, an integrated marketing company,  stresses the lack of  documentation.

He says, “During our last conference in Lagos most men realised that they needed to see this as important as anything.  At that conference, we were able to push the message that it could be you and every single person is a potential victim. A Will could help to tackle the problem. Before now, most men believed you must get to 70 years before you write your Will. But things have changed. You can write your Will now and that does not mean you will die tomorrow. For instance, if you ask many people that if they die, would they like their brothers to inherit everything they have worked for, they would say ‘No’. So, to guard against this type of thing, writing one’s Will is crucial.”

At a time that the economic recession in the country is penetrating even the strongest of breeds, Eiremiokhae is, through the foundation, giving soccour to many widows across the country. This is the essence of the N30m fund it unveiled.

He stresses that it is concerned about the fact that increasing level widows’ maltreatment in Nigeria is frightening, just as the economic challenges have worsened the situation.

According to the data, the foundation is working with, as gathered by health authorities, Nigeria has over 8 million widows with an estimated 21 million children. Watching these people suffer and idle is dangerous to all and sundry, he says.

He explains that the foundation is focusing on enlightenment and funding, while challenging stakeholders, including governments, traditional rulers and others, to save the vulnerable.

He says, “What I mean is that this is what we see every day in the society. From one part of the society to another, there is always a widow close to us; hence, the awareness of the inhumane treatment meted to these people. Because custom allows a lot of these things it is fast becoming an unbearable yoke and I believe this defies religion because sometimes people will merge tradition with religion. When you look at religion and human dignity, people with conscience would then start to think that these things are not proper because these widows are some people’s mothers, sisters or children. So, we believe it is something we need to add our voice to and, apart from trying to lend our support, we think if others begin to condemn this act and desist from practising it, liberation may  return to widows sooner than we hope.

“When you talk about widowhood in Nigeria the problem is bigger than we think. Statistics show that we have over 8 million disadvantaged widows and with an estimated 21 million children. This is like a gun powder that Nigeria is sitting on. So what we are trying to do is to lend our little support towards reducing their plight. We have set up an empowerment scheme, which is startup trade fund. Already, hundreds of widows have benefited from the scheme. We help them to identity trading opportunity and finance it for them. So it is like giving them the hook rather than fish. Each of these women got an average of N350,000 last year to start a business because we believe that once their source of income is guaranteed then the future of their kids is equally secured.”

The foundation also provides a lifeline for widows’ children, many of whom, Eiremiokhae notes, have dropped out of school. This comes in the form of scholarships. On a medical scheme and a programme it organised for wives of police officers last December, the founder says, “It is easy for people to criticise the police but the sacrifice they pay is enormous. Therefore, we did a programme dedicated to the widows of policemen. It impacted positively on the people because the police structure does not quite support these widows and their children.”

The foundation has now called for application for the grant from the N30m fund, which will empower concerned widows to start their businesses.

“We have broken them into income groups and at this stage screening and registration is going on and when that is done we start disbursing the fund. It is a nationwide programme but the first phase begins in Edo State and Lagos. This year priority is the military and the policemen widows.

“This is not a loan. It is an empowerment scheme and when we give them this money we try to encourage them to start a trade. It is not a loan but a free startup finance scheme. So what we do is to work with groups. For instance, we are working with widows’ associations in the states, where all their members are known by the associations and we are screening them; then from that screening we give them the money and we encourage them, link them up with those who can supervise them while believing that a widow would rather put that money into something good than squander it. But for the police we are working with the relevant authorities, where all these women could be identified,” he adds.

While it has started a campaign called ‘End Widows’ Maltreatment Now’, the King foundation will, in June, hold this year’s edition of the annual widows symposium/conference in Edo State, with Eiremiokhae noting that work is ongoing on a widows empowerment centre the foundation is building. For now, it is operating from Oracle’s office in Allen, Lagos. punch