26th June, 2017
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
No fewer than 17 homeless and destitute children who had lived on the streets for several years in Benin, Edo State, were recently moved into a beautiful and comfortable living apartments where they are undergoing rehabilitation.
The gesture was extended to the homeless destitute by an unsung philanthropist and Proprietor of Godsent Foundation, Ambassador Dion Osagie, who recently returned home to Nigeria, after a long sojourn in 22 cities of 12 European countries.
Besides their new home, the beneficiaries, most of whom were picked up at different locations in the city, including Ring Road and New Benin area, were also being provided with three square meals for nourishment and balanced diet.
Explaining why he embarked on philanthropy, Osagiede, said his journey to other countries of the world was an eye opener for him to have known that it did not cost much to show love to humanity.
He said Nigerians must learn to contribute their quota to humanity and should not turn blind eyes to the plight of children who roamed the streets, but think of how to improve on their lives,
“If you ever stop a child at Ring Road, Sokponba, Ogida, or other parts of the city to buy pure water, instead of asking him why he or she is not in the school, when yours are in schools, you are part of the problem this country is facing. It is not normal and we cannot continue to live like this,” he said, adding that he was happy to have started impacting on the lives of the destitute by providing accommodation and feeding for them.
Even at that, Osagiede does not intend to keep the destitute for ever, because, according to him, effort to reunite the children with their parents has begun.
According to him, the Godsent Foundation is not an orphanage home, but a place he has set aside to take care of the destitute and the indigents in the society.
Narrating to journalists how he got into street life, one of the children, 18-year-old Lucky Osamudiamen, said he begged for alms and slept on the streets of Lagos State for five years after he lost his father, until he decided to relocate to Benin City.
Lucky who said he would want to be a pilot if given opportunity to go to school, disclosed that when he arrived in Benin, he attached himself to a bus driver as his conductor and at night, he goes to the moat at the Airport Road to sleep, until he was picked up by Godsent Foundation.
Also speaking, another beneficiary, 15 year-old Destiny Osaretin, said he lost his mother at the age of nine and that ever since then, his father abandoned him.
Destiny said he was left with no other choice but to work as a bus conductor at Ring Road, adding that at night after the day’s job, he went to beg for alms and looked for where to sleep.