Oluwole Foundation Lifts 70 Branch Members Of C&S Church in Ilorin
Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Barely a month after empowering no fewer than 70 members at the headquarters of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, the Oluwole Foundation has extended the noble gesture to 24 branches of the Church within Ilorin metropolis and Oke-Oyi.
In the new dispensation, the Oluwole Foundation provided material and financial support to additional 70 beneficiaries, costing the Foundation about N37m.
Fielding questions from journalists on the sideline of the programme, the Chairman of the Foundation, Pastor Moses Ademola Popoola, said the extension of the empowerment programme this year to the branches of the Church was in obedience to divine instruction and as a means to tackle poverty within the Church community.
“We have 62 branches under our Church, but this is the first time we are going beyond our headquarters. For now, we have covered 24 Churches and empowered 70 people, spending close to N37 million. This is not just charity; it’s also evangelism. Some people will not be converted through preaching but through welfare,” Pastor Popoola explained.
He urged beneficiaries to take the gesture seriously, work hard, and extend help to others, assuring the congregants of further expansion of the empowerment programme to cover more beneficiaries in the coming years.
“They should not see this as a national cake. Be prudent, save, grow your business, and from what you have, help someone else. That way, we help the family, society, and the nation,” he cautioned.
Pastor Popoola also called on other foundations, especially those owned by Christians, to carry out their work with sincerity, rather than for personal gain. “This service is first to God, then to society. When we help people genuinely, we reduce poverty, crime, and unemployment.”
The cleric, however, stressed the need for the government to prioritise agriculture and rural development in order to tackle poverty and unemployment ravaging the nation.
He added: “Every wealthy nation built its economy on agriculture. So, government should secure our farmlands, provide tractors, and support our farmers holistically. Let each region focus on its strength, like cocoa in the West and groundnut in the North. We must also develop rural areas with electricity, motorable roads, hospitals, and jobs to curb rural-urban migration.”
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Janet Shaba, who expressed gratitude to the Oluwole Foundation for the kind gesture, promised that they would make judicious use of the items received.