By Amos Aar
THE All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain in Ogbadibo LGA of Benue State, Alhaji Usman Abubakar, popularly known as Young Alhaji, on Saturday shared the gains of the party’s Special National Convention in which delegates elected APC’s presidential candidate with his people in Orokam, his hometown.
Apart from the N3. 5 million which he donated, Young Alhaji also distributed 600 10kg bags of rice and 600 wrappers to the people of Orokam wards 1, 2, 3 and the entire APC members in Ogbadibo LGA.
He said: “Charity begins at home, so I’m here to share with Orokam people what I got from Abuja as a national delegate of the APC.
“I cannot eat alone because without Orokam, I can’t be a delegate, without Ogbadibo, I can’t be a delegate, without Benue South, I can’t be delegate”.
Asked what prompted his decision to donate the cash and items to his people, Young Alhaji replied: “All my life, I live for humanity, not for myself. I feel like carrying my people along, that’s why I shared those items with them and I will always be there for them.
“Thanks to the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Senator George Akume, and the state’s party Chairman, Comrade Austin Agada, under whose leadership I was made a national delegate of the party.
“My adversaries always look up to me to say that I have failed but I have never failed in my life because failure will only make you to start again”.
In a goodwill message, Oba of Yoruba in Idoma land, Amb. Umar Ajape, described the occasion as unique because according to him, it was the first time a national delegate in the person of Young Alhaji returned to his people to share the impact with them. The Oba who congratulated Ogbadibo people for finding Young Alhaji worthy to serve as their 2022 national delegate urged other politicians to make him a point of emulation.
“He has come back to express appreciation to his people for sending him there and that’s enough confidence”, Oba Ajape acknowledged.
APC Chairman in Ogbadibo LGA, Hon. Andrew Edache, and Bishop Benson Ijachi, in their separate goodwill messages said the Young Alhaji had demonstrated qualities of a good leader and his selfless gesture debunked the claim by other politicians that there is no money there. They encouraged the benefactor to sustain his sacrificial service to humanity.
“Young Alhaji has opened our eyes to what being a national delegate is all about, he is a philanthropist in nature, he gives all he has to people. With what he has just done, he has empowered people at the grassroots to ensure that come 2023, we must put hands together as a team to deliver Benue State. I advise other politicians to emulate Alhaji because they have been delegates since 1999 but nobody has ever come back to do what he is doing”, Hon. Edache said.
Speaking on the side-lines, one of the beneficiaries, Mrs Franca Abakwa Okole, who was a guest from Obi LGA, said Young Alhaji’s benevolence transcended his local government area because 20 persons from Obi and others from Oju LGA benefited from the philanthropy.
