A legal practitioner and human rights activist, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has called on the nation’s billionaires to support suffering Nigerians by contributing in an amount equivalent to their generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In a statement made available on Wednesday, Olajengbesi, who is the managing partner of the Abuja-based legal firm, Law Corridor, praised David Adeleke, professionally known as Davido, for donating N300million to orphans throughout the nation via his David Adeleke Foundation (DAF).
He also praised another music icon, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, professionally known as Wizkid, for donating millions to vulnerable Nigerians.
Olajengbesi said, “Our dear country is going through one of the toughest times in history, economically, no thanks to the policies of the new government. Multinationals are exiting the country, thousands of jobs lost. There is hunger in the land. And as the saying goes, an hungry man is an angry man, hence, the protests spreading over the country as demonstrators express displeasure over the hardship in the land.
“It’s time for our billionaires and respected business moguls in the private sector to step in and provide succour for our teeming citizens, just like they graciously did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Singer Davido announced a N300m donation to orphanages on Tuesday. This is a good development that should be emulated by the privileged few. History won’t forget the benevolent. God bless Nigeria.”
The ongoing hardship in the country is similar to what happened during the coronavirus pandemic four years ago, when billionaires like Aliko Dangote stepped up to lead the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
