INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY: Patients, traders in Umuahia, Aba rejoice as Abia First Lady Clears Hospital Bills, Gifts money

It was a day of rejoicing and utter joy as Patients at the Federal Medical Center FMC Umuahia received first hand kind gestures from the wife of Abia State Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti who cleared their hospital bills as part of events world marking the International Day of Charity 2024.

Traders too at the Orie-Ugba Market in Umuahia also got a feel of the day as fifty (50) of them all women received cash gifts from Mrs Otti resulting to a rapturous chants of songs in display of gratitude the Abia First Lady.

Speaking with newsmen during the event on Thursday, Mrs Otti called on those who are well-to-do to support the government in alleviating the suffering of the poor in the state and by extension fighting poverty in Abia.

The Commissioner for Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Mrs. Blessing Ngozi Felix, was also part of the team of the first lady.

She hinted that the beneficiaries of the hospital bills cleared by the wife of the Governor had since been discharged but remained in the hospital because they couldn’t afford their bills.

The Governor’s Wife was also accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Vulnerable Groups, Mrs. Ifeoma Thomas.

Abia’s first lady also went to Orie-Ugba market in Umuahia where 50 market women were also shown charity in the form of cash and others to be penned down for credit transfer.

A beneficiary of the gesture at FMC, revealed that he has been in the hospital for over a year because he couldn’t clear his hospital bills. He thanked the wife of the governor for ensuring that their bills were cleared and they are happy to return to their various homes.

At Orie-ugba market in Umuahia, the first lady was welcomed by jubilating women who chanted songs of praise on her arrival. While addressing the women traders, she said she took it as a point of responsibility to ensure that she visits them in the market today as part of her way of marking the International Day of Charity as she enjoined them to form cooperatives so that government can reach them as a body through their leadership and be able to assist them financially, or by way of infrastructure to boost their trades.

The Abia First Lady and her team also went to Obika Market near Ahiaba-Okpuala in Isialangwa North LGA where she made cash donations to some petty traders to help enhance their businesses.

At the Ahiaba-Ubi Modern Market, the jubilant market men and women also received cash gifts to help improve their businesses.