By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
Founder of Emilia Foundation/ Eye Care, Emilia Ezeude, has urged Nigerians not to stop rendering help to the less privileged because of the general economic hardship.
She pleaded with those well off not to abandon the needy because “we must at all time, in the spirit of brotherhood and our cherished value, continue to be our brother’s keeper despite the hardship being experienced in the country.”
She made the call at the inauguration of the foundation in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Council in Lagos, where many residents were given free eye care tests.
Ezeude, who ran for last year’s State House of Assembly election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), counselled Nigerians and those in leadership to always make a case for the poor.
This, she stressed, would help give them a sense of belonging in the society.
She also advised PDP members not to give up as the party has a good chance of upstaging the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.
“I just want to use this foundation, Emilia Foundation Eye Care, to give back as little as I can to the society. I also want to use this opportunity to urge all others whom God has blessed and with a giving heart to remember to assist the needy.
“They are our brothers and sisters, and given our spirit of being your brother’s keeper, we must accommodate them with the gifts God has bestowed on us. It is for our collective good,” she explained.
On her optimism about the PDP, Ezeude said: “We must work collectively for our great party in any way we can to enable us bounce back. Though I am not a prophet, I can predict that we will come back to power at the national level in 2019.
“With where we are today economically and politically, Nigerians are already set to vote out the APC in the next election.
“What we are undergoing now in the party is ‘operation back to Aso Rock and take over Lagos in 2019’.
“But this is only possible if we work harder, learn from our mistakes, and play a good opposition to show Nigerians that the APC is not a better alternative to the PDP.”