Kwara gov urges politicians to emulate Saliu Mustapha
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has urged politicians and other public figures in the state to emulate the Turaki of Ilorin, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, on social impact and philanthropy.
Saliu Mustapha, a frontline aspirant for the position of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is the chairman and founder of the Saliu Mustapha Foundation, an Ilorin-based charity organisation.
AbdulRazaq made the call on Monday in Ilorin while receiving a consignment of medical Orthopaedic beds donated by the Saliu Mustapha Foundation to the Kwara State Government.
The donation comprised 200 Orthopaedic beds and their accessories that are estimated to be worth several millions of naira.
Represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Raji Rasaq, the governor urged other philanthropists to emulate Mustapha, who he said, has been consistent with his philanthropic gestures in the last few years.
He noted that the donation was in line with his vision of bridging the gap in the health sector for the betterment of residents of the state.
The governor explained that there was no nation in the world that could sufficiently provide healthcare delivery without the collaboration of its citizenry.
In the same vein, AbdulRazaq said the state government bought 400 pieces of the same equipment at the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic for the Sobi Isolation Centre.
In his reaction, Alhaji Agboola Gambari, the Foundation’s Deputy Director-General, said SMF is a non-profit, non-governmental humanitarian organisation.
He said the Foundation was conceived and registered in 2003, as a special purpose vehicle through which its Chairman, Mustapha intended to play his part for the growth and development of his state.
“Since creation till date, the organisation has pursued strategic empowerment of the intellectual, physical, financial, social and spiritual wellbeing of the less privileged in the society in the fulfillment of the goal and aspirations of its founder.
“One of such goals is the reason why we are here gathered.
“As a humanitarian organisation, the Saliu Mustapha Foundation is saddened by reports of more severe cases as Nigeria faces a third wave of the pandemic.
“Many are lying helpless in isolation centres and their lives are dependent on the oxygen cylinders by their beds.
“The effect of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic bites harder with the standoffs between the striking doctors and the government,” he said.
He said without much rhetoric, it was important to note that the foundation is committed to humanitarian causes and had been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19.
”We have doled out palliatives to vulnerable groups and individuals in our own limited capacity.
“We believe this will go a long way in rekindling the hope of COVID-19 patients and strengthening the capacities at the isolation centres in the state.
“This is also our little way of encouraging the government and particularly the health workers who have been at the frontline since the day Nigeria recorded her index case. You are our heroes,” Mustapha said.
