My Vision For Nigeria —TY Danjuma -Flags Off N320m Grants For 24 Beneficiaries

FORMER Chief of Army Staff and ex-Minister of Defence, Lieutenant General Theophilus Danjuma, on Monday in Abuja, said he had a vision of a country where all citizens would have access to quality health care, education and equal opportunities to realise their potential.
To that effect, he enjoined partners and grantees of his multi-million
dollar organisation, the TY Danjuma Foundation, to continue working with the passion of giving back to a country he said has blessed him richly.
The former minister spoke in Abuja when he inaugurated grants totalling N320,066,112 to 24 beneficiaries.
The first leg of the initiative amounting to N101, 690, 960 benefited eight non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations, whihc he said were, however, selected after rigorous selection process.
Danjuma said the award came under 2013 Grant Cycle Programme of his foundation, which, he said, benefited the beneficiaries so that they  would continue what he described as good work of improving the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens.
The foundation set up with an endowment of  $100 million in 2009 targets to enhance community health care by providing free medical services to rural communities which lack adequate medical facilities; improve quality of education of children and young people; alleviate extreme poverty in communities across the country by providing clean drinking water, and encourage the education empowerment of women.
The former minister disclosed that two other award ceremonies were to hold this same month in Taraba and Edo states.
He said the beneficiaries formed “the bridgehead of our ambition. Without them, we cannot touch the lives of ordinary Nigerians everyday as I hope and dream.”
According to him, this year’s grant cycle increased his foundation’s national reach to 117 projects in 17 states and the FCT.
He said: “Although the number of projects being supported this year is smaller, the award amount is not. A smaller number of projects is being supported to allow foundation staff and the executive director in particular to concentrate on constructing a new five-year strategic plan for the foundation.
“As I have said, many times in the past, I believe that no one is too small or too poor to give to another and none so big or so rich as not to have a need that can be met by another,” he said.
A breakdown of the grants showed that Vantage Teens Centre got N4,737,050; FAHIMTA Women and Youth Development Initiative (FAWOYDI) N11, 419, 999; Care Vision Support Initiative (CAVSI) N14, 581, 494 and Indomitable Youths Organization (IYO) N2,350,000.
Others are Mission to Save The Helpless (MITOSATH) N29, 205, 588; Pro-Health International (PHI) N25,000,012; Tulsi Chanrai Foundation (TCF) N17,133, 865 and Youth Progressive Association in Taraba (TYPA), N2 million.