Ekiti Christmas clothing: We must give our children sense of belonging —Fayose

Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose has advocated for an inclusion of children’s welfare into the management of government at all levels.

He said that every tier of government must endeavour to concretely cater for the needs of children, especially children of the less privileged.

According to a press statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor,  Mr Idowu Adelusi, Fayose gave the advocacy while personally dressing up some children in Ekiti who benefitted from his provision of Christmas clothing for over 20,000 children in the state.

The governor who, he said was overwhelmed by the joyous way the kids in the state welcomed the idea, raised the number of beneficiaries from 10,000 to 20,000. Sunday was the official inauguration of the distribution of the clothing to the kid beneficiaries.

Hundreds of parents with their children, according to the release “trooped to the Osuntokun pavilion of the Government House, Ado Ekiti, at about 12 noon on Sunday to answer the governor’s call aired on the state television and radio some days earlier.

“Already, over 250 tailors from Ekiti had brought their sewing machines three days earlier to the Osuntokun hall and began sewing the Christmas wears for kids from one to 10 years old.

“Assorted local fabrics of Ankara, Guinea, and Kampala among others had been purchased by the governor and made available to the local tailors for the exercise.”

According to the release, Fayose, speaking with reporters shortly before he began to personally dress up some of the kids to flag off the ceremony said: “As a government, we must be seen to be caring, not by mere saying it but by practice. Part of our duty is to give our kids a sense of belonging. We are bound to provide some happiness for them at a yuletide such as this. We are providing Christmas clothing for over  20,000 of our kids. We will raise it to 100,000 by next year as I am very sure the next governor will come from my party PDP.”

Urging the kids to inform their parents to support his candidate, Professor Kolapo Olusola for the 2018 governorship poll,  the governor danced with the kids who sang songs of praise and appreciation for him, hailing him: Oshoko!, his political alias name repeatedly.

Some of the kids and parents of those who benefited from the kind gesture and spoke to reporters, thanked the governor for being concerned for their needs, saying that it was the first time ever a governor would be so concerned about the children of the less privileged as to provide Christmas clothing for them.

Omolola Adewale from Ado Ekiti, said: “We are very happy at what Fayose has done for our kids. It is very good and heartwarming. My only wish for him is to also become our president so that he can cater for more Nigerian kids this way.”

Ogunleye Rashidat from Ajebamidele in Ado said; “We appreciate governor Fayose for what he has done we pray the Lord will continue to bless and provide for him. We are very grateful”.

Similarly,  Mr Samson Adio who was one of the tailors engaged by the government to sew the dress praised the Governor as the exercise provided him money to buy foodstuff.

When asked how much he had realised from the numbers of clothes she sewed in the last two days,   he said N16, 000.

Mrs  Idayat Ajewole, a textile material dealer thanked Governor for buying the materials from the traders in Ekiti instead of going to Ibadan or Lagos. ” This is our own governor, who cares for our well being,” she said.