Fundraising for Vulnerable Families To End Poverty and Hunger

Save Our Needy has launched an online campaign to raise funds for vulnerable families mostly women and children affected by COVID-19 in order to help end poverty and hunger.

In Nigeria, millions of families live on less than $2 a day due to economic downturn. Most of these families have women as their breadwinners. They lack food, basic amenities, access to education and health facilities.

A vulnerable child

The emergence of COVID-19 has worsened an already bad situation. It has not only affected the health of thousands of women and children, it has also had a devastating effect on the finances of women who have lost their small businesses or jobs, putting them in a vulnerable situation.

Itegbin community

Save Our Needy hopes to reach out to 50 families in Itegbin community, Okokomaiko, a disadvantaged, riverine community affected by climate change and poverty. We hope to provide them with food and care packages as well as empower them with the tools and knowledge to fight poverty, climate change (environmental degradation) and hunger through free training.

KINDLY DONATE TO OUR CAUSE TO SAVE LIVES. THANK YOU.

Bank account details:

Save Our Needy Organisation

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC

0168556004

For foreign donations:

Save Our Needy Organisation

Guaranty Trust Bank PLC.

0477886089 (Euro Account)

0425886664 (Dollar account)

Swift Code: GTBINGLA

Agency Sort code: 058 - 152599

Marvella Odili Is A Panelist At The Choose Africa Event

The "Choose Africa event", a brainchild of the French Agency for Development (Agence Française de Devéloppement) and PROPARCO was organized on April 14th at the Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi, in partnership with the French Embassy, Nigeria.

The French Minister, Mr. Franck RIESTER speaking at the event

Our Founder, Marvella Odili, who was a panelist,  talked about her work of training and supporting marginalized women and youths to become entrepreneurs, as well as her experience as a participant at the Social and Inclusive Business Camp (SIBC) in France. 

 

Marvella Odili speaking at the event

Country Director of Proparco, Mr. Jean GUYONNET-DUPERAT introducing the panelists

Other members of the panel were representatives from Rensource, UBA, Max.ng, and VEROD Capital.

 

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attractiveness, Mr. Franck RIESTER, who is on a working visit to Nigeria to strengthen Nigerian/French bilateral relations and strengthen the links between the French and Nigerian private sectors, gave a wonderful speech at the event.

 

France Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Jerôme Pasquier, on the right

The event was graced by the French Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Jerôme Pasquier, and a host of other french diplomats.

 

The "Choose Africa" event gave participants the opportunity to interact, exchange ideas and build a good relationship. 

#ChooseAfrica

Marvella Odili Speaks On Community Initiatives, Youths and Women Empowerment and Solidarity

Marvella Odili, Founder/CEO of Save Our Needy was a panelist/speaker at the recently concluded 3rd edition of the event tagged "Night of Ideas", Circles of Solidarity, organized by the French Embassy in conjunction with the Institut Français which took place on January 28th at Mike Adenuga Centre, Ikoyi.

Marvella Odili speaking at the event, "Night of Ideas"

The panelists shed light on the thematic: STRONGER TOGETHER : WHEN COMMUNITY-BASED INITIATIVES JOIN THE PARTY, SO IMPROVES CITIZENS EMPOWERMENT.

Prof Tunji Azeez passing his point across at the event tagged "Night of Ideas"

Marvella spoke extensively on the marginalization of youths and women in the economic development of Nigeria and how they can be engaged to play a major role.

Cross-section of guests

Other speakers were Prof Tunji Azeez, Head Department of Theatre, Art & Music at Lagos State University, who launched a special program to help inmates through theatre, and Romain Poirot- Lellig, Founder/CEO of Kwik Delivery, a start-up company dedicated to delivery service and the empowerment of youths.

France Ambassador to Nigeria, Jerôme Pasquier, making a speech

A guest interacting with the panelists

France Ambassador to Nigeria

Entertainers

The MC at the event

A wonderful show of creativity

The event which was attended by the France Ambassador to Nigeria,  Jerôme Pasquier, and other dignitaries, was surely a night to remember. 

What Next For Nigeria After #EndSARS Protests?

In October, Nigeria witnessed a historic protest led by youths clamoring for the total disbandment of a special unit of the police force known as SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad). SARS was initiated to curb crime particularly robbery in Nigeria in the 90s. However, the unit became known as a terror squad notorious for violating the rights of innocent citizens especially youths and women through extrajudicial killings, rape, extortion, kidnapping, intimidation, and even robbery.

 

 

The #EndSARS hashtag which trended worldwide for weeks had the support of international lawmakers, celebrities, and sportspeople including Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kanye West,  Rihanna, Drake, Trey Songs, Janet Jackson, Celine Dion, Tammy Abraham, Antonio Rudiger, and a host of others. 

 

 

For the first time in Nigerian history, Nigerian celebrities from the entertainment and sports industry all over the world including Falz, Runtown, DJ Switch,  Wizkid, Davido, John Boyega, Jude Ighalo, John Ogu, and a host of others, actively participated in the protest to #ENDSARS and end police brutality.

 

The Nigerian government responded by disbanding SARS and immediately creating SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics). This did not go down well with the protesters who insisted it was just a change of name and not a full reformation of the unit. They backed up their claims with proof that SARS has been disbanded three times in the last 3 years but they only came back worse.

 

 

 

The leaderless protest which went on peacefully for almost three weeks grew to include other issues affecting youths such as bad governance, injustice, and impunity. 

 

 

 

As one voice, the youths all over Nigeria implored the Nigerian government to take real action to end police brutality, bad governance, increasing poverty, injustice, and impunity.

 

Despite the attacks on peaceful protesters by hoodlums alleged to be sponsored by the government to disrupt the protests, protests continued all over Nigeria.

 

 

 

 

On October 20th, peaceful and unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll gate, Lagos, were allegedly attacked and shot at by security forces leading to the death of some protesters. Many others were injured and some maimed in the process. Hoodlums took advantage of the chaos to unleash violence and looting in the State in subsequent days. 

 

 

Judicial panels of inquiry have been set up in multiple states in Nigeria to investigate cases of police brutality and possibly compensate families. However, it remains to be seen if the government will keep its word.

 

 

Since the protests died down, #EndSARS protesters have been witch-hunted by the government alleging sponsored terrorism. Cases of frozen bank accounts,  arrest from homes, and seizure of passports to stop traveling, have been trending on social media. These acts are quite contradictory to the promises made by the Nigerian government to listen to the cry of the youths. 

 

 

It is a month after the unfortunate incident at Lekki and an investigative report by CNN has confirmed the attack on peaceful protesters at Lekki tollgate. Sadly though, no one has been persecuted yet for this attack. 

 

The question now is what next for Nigeria after the #EndSARS protests? 

Our Response To COVID-19 in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Adamawa State situated in the North-East region, has been facing a humanitarian crisis caused by violent attacks from Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamist militant group for more than 8 years. The emergence of COVID-19 has worsened the already bad situation. More women, children and the elderly presently live in extreme poverty, and those who had been able to escape poverty have seen their resources dwindle in recent times. 

 

Poor communities have become more vulnerable to the issues of livelihood, hunger, housing and shelter. COVID-19 has had devastating effects on the health and economic situation of vulnerable women and children. Also, the scarcity of water in this region has made it practically impossible to maintain hygiene. 

The Save Our Needy team reached to the poorest households which have women as the breadwinners in Yola-South, Adamawa State, to provide them with care and hygiene packages consisting of food items, bottled water, menstrual pads, sanitizers, bath soaps, washing detergents and toilet rolls. We also launched an awareness campaign to raise more awareness on the prevention of COVID-19 in order to reduce the rate of infections in the communities.

Marvella Odili Wins "1000 Entrepreneurs Challenge "

We are proud to announce our Founder/CEO, Marvella Odili, as one of the winners of the "1000 Entrepreneurs Challenge" for her project, "Connecting Marginalized Women To Technology and Development."

Marvella Odili 

Over the years, Marvella has economically empowered thousands of marginalized women and youths through skills-building; launched projects for the education of thousands of vulnerable children particularly girls; and advanced the rights of women and girls, through her non-profit organization,  Save Our Needy Organisation. 

As a part of the winning package, all winners were invited to the Africa-France Summit 2020 which was due to start on June 4, 2020 in Bordeaux, France. However, due to the present circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, all scheduled travels have been cancelled. 

All the winners who were selected from 53 countries in Africa, will have the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge from experts, network, gain visibility for their work and public and private funding from French and African partners of Digital Africa. 

See list of full winners here:

https://digital-africa.co/en/winners-1000/😀🥳

African Children Are The Future of Africa

As we celebrate the International Day of the African Child today, we reflect on the many issues affecting the African child including violence, poverty, illiteracy, neglect, and abuse. No child can thrive in an environment where there is a lack of love, peace and happiness. It is our collective responsibility to provide an enabling environment that is peaceful, vibrant, and healthy for ALL children irrespective of social background, ethnicity, physical ability, and religion to reach their full potential.
 

The African child is the future of Africa. We have to protect their rights. 

Happy International Day of the African Child!