AGED women, widows and low income traders have been listed amongst beneficiaries of the Mme Ekpeyong Foundation as it opened its new headquarters in Uruan, Akwa Ibom State recently.
A brainchild of Larry Ettah, the immediate past Group Managing Director of UAC of Nigeria Plc, the foundation was set up shortly after his retirement in memory of his grandmother to cater for the less privileged women in rural communities in the state.
It has and will continue to provide medical outreach, including consultations and treatment, trading grants and educational support in terms of fees and other essentials, according to Ettah.
Speaking at the opening of the edifice located within the very same compound he grew up under the care of his grandmother, Ettah said the foundation was in fulfillment of a solemn obligation “to reflect in our lives and deeds the values of humanity, humility and indeed hope” for which his forebearers stood.
He recalled that his grandparents – Valentine Asuquo Essien and Christina Ekpeyongawan Essien – instllled in their children and grandchildren, the tenets of service to others.
“They did this by exhorting us to be islands of mercy in the sea of indifference that may surround us. Where we see darkness, we were taught instead of swearing and cussing to light a candle,” he said.
Explaining further the circumstances under which the foundation was established, Ettah said, “In early 2018, on my retirement from UACN after 30 years of service to that company, a greater service – that of the community, beckoned. I spoke with my uncle, Dominic Essien and we both decided a foundation dedicated to the memory of our mother and grandmother would be the best way to go.
“She had many nicknames given to her by peers and admirers alike: names, which include: Eka Nyara, Odusu Odusu, Afia Mma, Eka Esin, Eka Kingsize, Mma Teacher, Mma Etubom, Eka Iban and my personal favourite was Eka Eka. A name which I cherish and hold dear as she was my safe harbour, my north star, my moral compass whose faith in me never wavered even when I did in myself.
“She called me Akaninyene (This child is more than wealth), given that when my father was abducted and subsequently became one of those that never returned during the civil war, his family scrambled for what they could appropriate as is typical in Africa forgetting the child but she took me, nurtured and cared for me, became literally my father and mother rolled in one.
“It is to EkaEka that we today dedicate this House of Hope endowed by her foundation, the Mma Ekpeyong foundation.”
He noted that in the last three years, the foundation had undertaken intervention activities in the tripods of medical outreach and academic rewards, which are given during the annual Christmas celebration, where exceptional students in primary and secondary institutions across the various neighbouring communities were recognised and rewarded for their academic excellence.
The third leg he said was mothers’ trading grants under which the foundation had given two women groups namely – Nka Ndo Ndo and Nka Aman Isong, seed capital, who amongst them have members numbering over 125 individuals, to support each individual members.
He said the building would now be the foundation’s official address and physical location to all those who want to reach the foundation.
“It will be here that our monthly free health maintenance activities for widows and aged women will be done. It will be here that academic rewards will be celebrated.
It will be here that our mothers will access their trading grants. It will be here that any other such philanthropic intervention by the foundation will be undertaken,” he said.
Notable personalities that graced the occasion in person or remotely include the Special Guest of Honor, Mr. Hakeem Oladipo Oyeneyin (Jejenuwa of Ondo ); Otuekong J. P Efiong, Clan Head of Mbiaya Uruan; and members of Old Trafford Squash Club, Marina, such as Taye Ige, the Chairman; Remi Adeseun, Yomi Adeyemi, Joe Ijeh, Tunji Olaniyi, Cyril Ayemere, Tokunboh Onashoga, and Dr Babatunde Lawal, Former Chief Medical Adviser of UACN, among others.
