DEPOWA PAYS COURTESY VISIT TO COMMANDANT NDA
Members of the Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA), led by the President, Mrs Oghogho G Musa, paid a courtesy visit to the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Maj Gen JO Ochai, at the Academy headquarters in Afaka, today, 29 September 2023.
During the visit, Mrs Musa expressed gratitude to the Commandant for his support to DEPOWA. She highlighted that DEPOWA is a Non-Governmental and Non-Profit Organisation aimed at helping the needy, less privileged, and improving the living standards inside and outside the Barracks.
Mrs Musa mentioned that DEPOWA is uniquely positioned to reach those with the most pressing needs within the Barracks and surrounding communities because of its unique structure of affiliate associations, adding that the DEPOWA has a history of impacting women, youth, and the less privileged through empowerment, sponsorship, donations, and training.
“Having carried out the needs assessment, we intend to do more for our youths in the barracks through skill acquisition programs, more knowledge in Information Technology and to further reduce poverty, we have begun reaching out to the most vulnerable in our various barracks and surrounding communities” she said. According to her, DEPOWA is currently in the process of documentation to commence training for widows at the headquarters in Asokoro, Abuja.
The DEPOWA President further informed the Commandant NDA that earlier during the week, she, alongside with the wife of the Commandant NDA and Coordinator NDAOWA, Mrs Ruth Ochai, led other members of both DEPOWA and the Nigerian Defence Academy Officers Wives Association (NDAOWA) on an outreach where they met and offered support to One Hundred and Twenty-Five widows of Fallen Heroes within the Academy. She added, “after an interactive session with the Coordinator and her members at the NDAOWA Secretariat, we gave the women food items and cash token to assist them and to further assure them that they are not alone. I have discussed with the coordinator NDAOWA on how the widows will further be engaged in Skill Acquisition Trainings to compliment what the Coordinator NDAOWA is doing”.
Mrs Musa further revealed that after the event with the widows, they further proceeded to donate medical equipment such as stretchers, wheel chairs, vacuum extractors and window blinds to the NDA Hospital, after which they went to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna(NARHK) where they donated toiletries and cash token to over three hundred wounded soldiers and others on admission at the hospital. They also visited the orphanage at Ungwan Rimi, Kaduna, State.
In his response, Maj Gen JO Ochai praised DEPOWA for their role in improving the lives of Service Members, widows, children, and the larger community, both within and outside the barracks. He pledged continued support for DEPOWA’s initiatives, including plans to build schools within the Academy for quality education.
Maj Gen JO Ochai appreciated DEPOWA’s presence during the convocation and encouraged them to focus on key areas, while looking forward to continuous collaboration.
Highlights of the event includes the presentation of souvenir by the Comdt NDA, signing of visitors’ Book and group photographs.
