•Desmond Elliot in white attire (r)
Seven hundred widows resident in the Surulere area of Lagos were among the beneficiaries empowered yesterday by a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Desmond Olusola Elliot.
Elliot, who represents Surulere Constituency 1 at the House, also gave out ‘Lagride’ cars to two other beneficiaries while some indigent school children got scholarships from the lawmaker.
The Frontier reports that, aside from the empowerment programme, the widows and widowers were given information about the credit adjustment process and subsidised payments for prepaid meters currently being handled by the lawmaker.
Through this, widows and widowers in Surulere who do not have prepaid meters would be entitled to a subsidised payment for their meters after verification of their invoice and address.
Speaking at the event where cash gifts and food items were distributed through the ‘DOE Support For Widows’, the movie actor and producer-turned politician told the guests and beneficiaries that he decided to concentrate on the widows, widowers and their children so as to make them happy as they march into 2024.
“We do this every year, but this year, we decided to do it in January because I observe that at the beginning of the year, a lot of people are always struggling, especially after December of the previous year.
“You also know that widows and widowers hardly have those supporting them. So this is just a support from me. It is also to interact with them and make them know that we are not far from them.
“Again, we are presenting two Lagride cars to make it seven that we have given out in the last few months to support residents,” he said.
The lawmaker used the opportunity to urge the residents of Surulere to vote for Fouad Laguda, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the February 3 by-election to fill the space left by Femi Gbajabiamila, after he took office as the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Chairman of Surulere Local Government Council, Bamidele Sulaiman Yusuf described the support as timely adding that it aimed to lessen the burdens of widows.
He also urged his counterparts in the APC to mobilise and support the candidate of the APC in the forthcoming by-election.
