Dr. Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, Osodieme, the wife of the Governor of Anambra state does not need introduction. Her reputation as a charitable woman precedes her office as the first lady of Anambra state and initiator of the Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFÉ), a non-governmental and non-profit organization. Beyond her prepossessing personality lies a compassion heart that reaches out to many on the wrong side of life and others in desperate straits.

Before they chanced on the scene as the first family in Anambra state, she has had a long history of charity work both in Anambra state, Nigeria and the US. It was therefore natural for her to continue on her compassionate work as the First Lady of Anambra State.

With the consent of her husband to operate an office that would enable her expand the scope of her charity program, CAFÉ was born on August 1, 2014. It is fairly right to say that since CAFÉ there has been something close to revolution in economic empowerment of the rural women in particular and all the others in general. It is the conviction of the First Lady that any initiative that improves the average woman’s economic status and well-being helps tackle economic inequality in the society.

To achieve this, she advocated increased involvement of women in the scheme of things in the state and made it a priority during her annual tour of the 181 communities in the state and the Mother’s Summit that herald the August Meetings of every year. She galvanized women to be active life and entrepreneurship. To date, over 5,500 women, especially indigent widows and youths have been started on fashion design, soap making, bakery, confectionery, hair dressing, beauty therapy, interior decoration, telephone and computer repair etcetera after acquiring required skill in those fields.

Worried by an avalanche of indigent widows with virtually no roof over their heads, Osodieme started the CAFÉ Housing for Indigent Widows Project. To this end, she has built twenty-eight bungalows, which were donated gratis to beneficiaries in communities across the state. She also waged war against open defecation among women and in the market place. To deal with the problem, she constructed twenty-two modern toilets with water boreholes in select rural markets.

Osodieme is not involved less in reclaiming for society those on the verge of despair. A case in hand was her intervention in correctional homes, sick homes and special schools, among them Basden School of the Blind, Isulo in Orumba South, Nteje Sickbay and many a correctional home across the state.

Treatment and reunion of the mentally unstable persons, which are uncountable, are, perhaps, some of the tiny drops in CAFÉ’s ocean of countless charitable works. So committed is Osodieme to charity that, even without support from government, she has paddled her canoe over troubled waters.

CAFÉ has seen to the sinking of over 55 boreholes in different parts of the communities in the state as a way of alleviating the stress rural women are subjected to. It was in recognition of her initiative in promoting hygiene and healthy environment that the European Union and UNICEF recognized her as Water Sanitation and Health (WASH) Ambassador.

Her effort in caring for the physical challenged persons cannot be over emphasized. So far, over two thousand walking paraplegics and others with various degrees of defective limbs received prosthetic limbs and feet while 1,800 others received free wheel chairs. Note also that CAFÉ dutifully treated and managed over one hundred mentally challenged persons with support of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

This is without forgetting the CAFÉ free cleft lip and palate surgeries, performed on persons with congenital mouth disorder. This has been extended to over one hundred beneficiaries, thus helping them out of stigmatization and offering them fresh opportunities in life.

As Mrs Obiano marks yet another year of grace from God, let us join our voices and wish happy birthday as she ages gracefully.

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