His Imperial Majesty, Oonirisa Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, The Ooni of Ife, has partnered with Empower 54, a non-profit organization, to create awareness and promote solutions to end malnutrition in Africa, which currently kills 2.3 million children annually in Nigeria.
Empower 54 Project Inc (Empower 54) is
a US non-profit organization providing
humanitarian assistance since 2003 through health, education, empowerment, and
IDP/refugee programs to underprivileged Africans.
According to the Founder and President
of Empower 54, Princess Modupe Ozolua, Nigeria’s Minister of Health has
declared that “one-third, 33% of Nigerian Children under 5 years old suffer
from chronic malnutrition” which translates into very disturbing statistics and
many innocent lives lost due to lack of sensitization on early management of
malnutrition and accessibility to free treatment.
Princess Ozolua further states: “After Empower
54 evacuated the severely malnourished IDP children from Bama to Maiduguri on
June 13th and 15th 2016, we realized more has to be done
to save children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) beyond
evacuating them from high risk zones for treatment. There are countless non-IDP
children suffering from SAM all over Nigeria and other parts of Africa that
also need help.”
Due to His Imperial Majesty’s
dedication to humanity, it’s with great honor that he has agreed to lend his
voice and passion to the campaign to eradicate malnutrition in Africa, starting
in the countries Princess Ozolua further states: “Empower 54 currently work in;
Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
His Imperial Majesty supports Empower
54’s forward thinking and lives changing initiative by stating: “The menace of
malnutrition is creeping deeper into the fabric of our society and we must be
tenacious in our fight against this colossal beast by creating a better
mechanism; adopt policies and strategies that are capable of combating its
rapid expansion. Africa is the wealth of the world with huge human and natural
resources and we must form a consensus that would scale up nutrition projects
for the greater developments of future leaders that are being crippled daily by
our collective negligence.”
He further states: “As the
Co-Chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN),
we require holistic and systematic global blended approach in addressing the
shade of malnutrition in Africa. I recognize and applaud months of intervention
of Empower 54 in subjugating the spread of malnutrition in Nigeria and across
Africa. Therefore, in an effort to forge greater participation, it is my sheer
commitment and other global partners to advocate alongside the long-term
collective aspirations of Empower 54 in championing malnutrition extinction
roadmap in Africa.”
Empower 54 will be working closely with
His Majesty’s organization, Global Outreach (Ooni of Ife Global Outreach)
Initiative, on strategies for his role as Empower 54’s International goodwill
Ambassador to end malnutrition in Africa.
As a global goodwill ambassador for
Empower 54, The Ooni of Ife joins His Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Patron
of Empower 54) and Hollywood actress, Kat Graham (Empower 54’s goodwill
ambassador for IDPs/Refugees) to work towards impacting lives of
underprivileged Africans.
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