She had over the years developed deep love for the less
privileged in the society as she watched her father lent helping hand to
the needy. 
Indeed, Governor Rochas Okorocha had involved his children in his philanthropic work even before he became governor.
Indeed, Governor Rochas Okorocha had involved his children in his philanthropic work even before he became governor.
For Uloma, it was a dream realized as she at the weekend
unveiled her foundation situated on Justice Oputa Crescent in New
Owerri.
According to her, while they lived in Jos, Plateau State,
their father would take them out every Friday to Mashalashi Nduma to
give foods to poor women on the street.
That humanitarian service, she said, affected her so much
that each time she saw a person in need, particularly women and
children, she would be moved by emotion to stop by to lend a helping
hand.
Uloma who is the wife of the Imo State Chief of Staff,
Ugwumba Uche Nwosu, may also have honed her humanitarian spirit in the
two years she worked at Rochas Foundation, owned by her father, as
director general.
So, as she unveiled her foundation before a large crowd at
the prestigious Imo Trade and Investment Center, her father, Governor
Okorocha, heaved a sigh of relief, saying that at last one of his
children has been bold to step into his shoes by coming out to continue
to help the less privileged in society.
Declaring how happy he was before the array of dignitaries
that attended the occasion, including the wife of the acting president,
Mrs. Dolapo Osinbajo, and wife of Enugu State governor, Mrs. Monica
Ugwuanyi, Okorocha said it was always good to give.
Unveiling the Elfreeda Foundation on Friday, Mrs.
Osinbajo, thanked Uloma and her husband, Uche for establishing the open
shelter for the less privileged.
“It is a great joy to be in this beautiful hall and all
the great talents that are here. I could only imagine that Elfreeda
Foundation was a dream, but now, it has become a reality. The hand of
the Lord is very strong to make dreams come true.
“I am not surprised at what I see today about Elfreeda
Foundation and all I can whisper is, ‘I’m so proud of you, my junior
sister and daughter, Uloma.’
“I know the parents of Mrs. Nwosu who themselves are
deeply involved in humanitarian organizations that have been helping the
less privileged in the society, so I am not surprised that their first
daughter has also followed their footsteps.”
Mrs. Osinbajo called on the Okorochas and the Nwosus to
keep up their act of generosity and also pass it over to their next
generation.
Speaking in a similar vein, wife of the Enugu State
governor said she was not surprised at what she was seeing at the
unveiling of the foundation.
“I personally love what I am seeing here today, the lives
she will touch with it, the lives she had touched already. Let us
support her by contributing towards her cause financially and morally,”
Mrs Ugwuanyi pleaded.
Also speaking Governor Okorocha said: “Over the years of
my struggles in life, I have not so much been at home or stayed with my
children for long, but we have always been there to impact the necessary
discipline in our children. Today, Uloma, you have made us proud.”
He thanked the wife of the acting president for coming to Imo to flag off the foundation of her daughter.
“Just recently, the first ladies of Nigeria were gathered
in Imo State including Hajia Aisha Buhari to attend my wife’s August
Meeting. Today again, the wife of the acting president is here, we are
really grateful”.
Uloma’ mother, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha and her husband,
Uche were equally grateful to Mrs. Osinbajo for coming to perform the
opening ceremony of the foundation.
On the eve of the unveiling ceremony, Uloma had conducted a
select group of journalists round the foundation facility, which has
three main buildings.
The first building has the lunchroom and the thrift center; the second is the dormitory, which she christened Safe Haven
while the third is the resource center.
Explaining how the thrift center works, she said: “Most of
the clothes you have seen here are donated to us. Some of them are
going for N1,000, N5,000; like my children’s trolley because I have
twins, and since they have overgrown them I donated them to the
foundation. We have washed and cleaned all the items donated, recycled
them to be useful to someone else.
“We will sell to outside guests while the sheltered guests
get the items free. At the end of the day, if it is N1 or N2 we realized it is coming back to the foundation. So, we want to make people
to understand that all your old clothes and other used items not needed
in your household, you can just give them to us, we will recycle them
and put them to use. In the long term, we also intend to have a farm
where we can engage the women.”
She said those to benefit from the foundation are homeless women and children.
“The shelter guests, as I said, will get these items for
free but the public will buy them at token prices. For instance, God
forbids someone got raped and she ran to this place and she doesn’t have
a cloth, she will get a cloth here, someone wants to go for a job
interview and she checks her wardrobe and she had nothing, she can get a
makeover from here, but for the public, this is a way to support what
we are doing, whatever that is realized here will be ploughed back to
the foundation.
“We are partnering with about five NGOs in the state; we
can’t do it alone, we partner even with the Ministry of Women affairs
because some of the women run to them. So, they also help us in our
accreditation process so ensure that these women are the ones the
foundation is really intended to help.
“It is a temporary shelter, so they come in by 6pm and go
out by 9am. Most people don’t understand why I said they should leave by
9am. I don’t have the capacity to house them from morning till the
evening, it’s not sustainable for me; two, the psychological effect on
them to know that I am going out and I have no choice but must make
something for myself because I might come back and not have that bed
again because we will give the beds out according to priorities and
whoever needs them.
“If you know that you are going out by 9am, the skill
acquisition center we are taking you to, you will know that you have to
learn that trade quickly, if you are going to the farm you will know you
are going there to work. Some people are on the street because, may be
they don’t want to work, so we are also trying to change their mindset.
We have trained counselors, but for the time being, it is the Ministry
of Women Affairs that are do screening for us.
“We will keep our sheltered guests up to 30 days after
which we will stop because we believe we have given you all the skills
on the platform to enable you get back to the street. For those who work
in the farm there is a startup for them where they can be on their own
later.”
Before she decided to begin the open shelters, she said
she had made a lot of enquiries to know the worst thing that could come
out of it, pointing out that people talked about legal issues which they
have cleared even as they keep perfecting the initiative.
On why she christened the dormitory Safe Haven, she said:
“I called it Safe Haven because they will get sanity at least for one
night. I had the opportunity of working in my father’s foundation as the
director general, the Rochas Foundation, for two years and I learnt
over time that no matter what you do and how great it is, there must
always be loopholes, but the most important thing is out of ten people,
if you are honestly able to change the lives of two persons, that will
be fine because at the Rochas Foundation, we realized that we were
training a commissioner of police’s son in a school that was meant for
the poorest of the poor, a free education school. But I don’t want to be
dismayed by this attitude of some people. So, if out of 20, two are
genuine, we know that God ‘s covering is taking care of that. And we
don’t accept boys over the age of 10. We presently have 50 beds but have
capacity for 100. That’s why we are calling on people to get involved.
For now, that is what we have.”
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