IT was a joyful day for indigenes of Odeomu, a predominantly Muslim town in Osun State, as one of their sons, the Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), Pastor Matthew Abiodun Ashimolowo and his wife, Yemisi, on Saturday, January 4, 2014 celebrated the New Year with the widows and members of the community and its environs by sharing gifts worth over N10 million.

The event, which took place at the proposed Kings’ University, established by the pastor at his hometown Odeomu, brought together over 12 sitting Obas, representatives of different church leaders with other dignitaries and saw him distribute laces, ankaras and cash to over 3,000 widows and gave scholarship to 20 indigent undergraduates while also feeding over 4,000 people present at the event.

The colourful event also brought notable gospel artistes who performed scintillating Gospel songs among whom was the award-winning Evangelist Tope Alabi.

Speaking at the event, Ashimolowo said the programme, which began eight years ago, was his personal initiative borne out of a directive by God to minister to the widows in his father’s home town.

According to him, “This is the eighth year that we started giving out gifts, clothes, food and money to widows. God laid it on my heart to minister to the widows in my father’s home town of Odeomu and as far as widows are concerned, they are the most neglected people in the society and the Bible is very specific that we should take care of the fatherless and the widows and in doing this, I feel that we are the hand and leg of Jesus Christ making it happen. So eight years ago, we started with 308 widows; the next year, it jumped to 850, the third year, it became over 1000 and since then, it kept going up and up and this year, we ministered to over 3000 widows. We have 900 widows from the town of Modakeke near Ile-Ife and over 2000 from Odeomu and a couple of others from nearby towns.

“Today, we are giving out five yards of lace and ankara each to over 3000 widows, N500 to each of them, cooked for everyone who came and gave 20 university scholarships to indigenes of Odeomu who are currently in the university and needs the scholarship. The most interesting thing in this project is that 60 percent of the recipients are Muslims but we don’t differentiate.”

Ashimolowo said that his primary focus was to bless people in the city because it is a town that his father set out from as a teenager to try to make sense of life from where he later joined the Nigerian Army.

He said further that his love for Nigeria made him to come from United Kingdom where he lives to set up projects, chiefly among it being the proposed Kings’ University, which he has built in the town but still waiting for licence from the National University Commission (NUC) to get it started.

He also revealed that though the project might have cost a lot of money that it is more than the financial cost but also the emotional involvement.

Ashimolowo then called on the leaders in the country to redefine their commitments to the people, create a middle class system through the introduction and encouragement of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and decentralize the economy of the country to other states stating that such will create employments and alleviate poverty.

He said: “there seems to be an attitude which makes people in this country feel like once they sit in an ivory tower and they are comfortable, they think everybody is. It is a very dangerous omen to have over 60million unemployed and under employed youths. Nigeria needs to introduce a middle class system whereby it’s not just those who are very high up and those who are at the bottom. Nothing in the policy that I have seen recently encourages SMEs and creation of technical schools. We used to have trade centres and that will create another level of jobs because we all don’t have to go to universities in order to make a living or add to the economy. I think we also need to decentralize many things in this country so as not to kill the rural areas. If this is done, you will see that you will create so many Nigeria and not only Lagos and Abuja.”

He finally called on other churches to start responding to the material needs of the needy in the nation.

According to him, “we cannot be so heavenly minded that we are not of earthly use. We need to realize that the greatest thing you can do to a man is to touch him; it is not enough for us to scream fasting, praying, casting out demons, prophetic ministries; it is important to begin to give water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, hope to the hopeless and give life and meaning to those who have not found meaning to their lives.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php/news/metro-news/142962-ashimolowo-fetes-widows-offers-scholarships-to-indigent-students