Proprietor of Pacesetters Group of Schools, Abuja, Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon(aka The Riceman), has advocated for support for the Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) camp in Uhogua, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State.
He made the advocacy when he paid a visit to the camp on Tuesday. He was accompanied on the visit by his wife, Kate, and the core of the management team of the Pacesetters Schools.
Addressing the about 4,000 people in the camp, who welcomed him amidst cheers, Imansuangbon, who aspired to be Edo State Governor in the 2024 elections on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), said his visit to the facility is to show his compassion for the inhabitants and the founder of the Home for the Needy, Pastor Solomon Folorunsho, which manages the facility, adding that the visit is not to solicite for votes as most politicians do during election period.
He called on the youths and children not to lose hope but to focus on their education so that they could grow up to be men and women of honor whose impact would be felt in nation-building.
“I have told you before that a son of a poor man will be equal to a son of a rich man and even bigger if you read your books. Some of you will be president of Nigeria someday,” he stated.
Going further, he asserted: “If we have a country where things are done well, Pastor Folorunsho is due for a national honor. I am calling on President Bola Tinubu that people who are given national honor are those who deserve it like it is done in America.
“National honor shouldn’t be given to dishonorable people. They should be given to people who have touched lives. Nigerian must discover itself under President Tinubu. He should correct this. He has inspired development for the country so that people will know that when you help the poor, you are developing the country.”
He called on the Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, to come to the aid of the children even as he commended the governor for hitting the ground running. He also called on the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs to come to assist the camp.
Imansuangbon’s wife, Kate, stressed that their visit to the camp is to tell the inhabitants that they’re loved and there are people out there who care for them, adding that the yearly Christmas season visit and donation of food and clothings to the inhabitants was initiated by her husband to show his compassion for them.
In his response, Pastor Folorunsho thanked the visitors for their show of love and appealed for further help especially as it relates to helping to engage some of their hordes of graduates who are in need of job placement.