The
celebrant, who came in the company of her husband, Barrister Wemimo Ogunde
(SAN), her children, siblings and employees expressed great delight at the
opportunity to share the joy of her special day with the less privileged,
stressing that such vulnerable children need be showered with love, even as
they are encouraged and supported to reach their full potential in spite of the
loss or rejection they might have suffered in time past.
The
children at Goshen Home were also joined by the vibrant and upward-mobile
youths of Bestspring Foundation, Ijegun, Ikotun in fulfilment of Mrs. Ogunde’s
promise to visit them when the students attended the 2017 edition of her annual
WATFON educational summit, which held in March at Vintage Point, Ikeja.
Speaking
on this occasion of his wife’s birthday, Barrister Wemimo Ogunde recalled how that
he suffered a major setback in his academics at the tender age of 12 due to the
loss of his mother.
“I
was born into a polygamous family, the popular Pa Hubert Ogunde dynasty. Unfortunately,
my mother died when I was 12 years old, hence she did not even see me wear
secondary school uniform. As in every polygamous house, the mother is the
advocate for her children and she is the one to fight their course before other
contenders in the home. So, where she is not there, the child is left to wander
with no one to plead his case before his father. And so, in my case, my mother
was not there to advocate for me and this of course marked the beginning of my
failure. I started failing at school because there was no mother or father to
check on me. My case was indeed hopeless until God raised some destiny helpers
to counsel and mentor me. And that was how my life changed for good and today,
I am a foremost lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria”, narrated Ogunde.
The
erudite lawyer therefore charged the children/youths not to bemoan the loss of
their parents or cling to their pain as an excuse for failure. He urged them to rather make good use of the
opportunities and destiny helpers that God sends their way and remain focused as
they navigate through the hurdles of life.
Corroborating
this, his wife and celebrant, Mrs Yinka Ogunde urged the children to look on
the brighter side of life, stressing that regardless of whatever situation or
challenge that comes, they can still get to the top. Recounting how she and her
siblings were raised by a single mother and how that in spite of the untold
hardship all of them still turned out successful and outstanding in their
different careers, she urged all vulnerable children to remain undeterred, work
hard and put their trust in God who is able to see them through.
She
also charged well-meaning Nigerians to invest their time and resources towards helping
less privileged children achieve their dream through provision of educational
scholarship, mentorship and welfare support.
She
promised to support those of that emerge with excellent result at the just
concluded WAEC.
While
commending the amazing work and dedication of Mrs. Aramide Oikelome, the
Executive Director of Goshen Orphanage and Bestspring Foundation in nurturing
these hapless children and youths over the years, Ogunde prayed that God will
continue to send helpers to the organization that will support it with their
resources and time.
In
her response, Oikelome thanked Mrs. Yinka Ogunde and her family for believing
in her vision and identifying with it. She also thanked them for defying all
odds, including the deplorable condition of the Alagbole/Akute Road to travel
all the way to celebrate her birthday with the children and youths when she
could have opted for more prominent and successful orphanages in the heart of
town.
The
two-hour event was thoroughly fun-filled, with lots of wining and dining,
dancing and exchange of pleasantries. The youths from Ijegun also seized the
opportunity to tell Mrs. Ogunde how WATFON 2017 impacted their lives positively
and changed their mind-set from that of mediocres to
become change-makers that are confident that they have what it takes to excel
in life and make Nigeria better.
Goshen
Home & Orphanage was recently commissioned, precisely on 4th
March 2017 by the duo of Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President
Muhammadu Buhari on Media & Publicity and the General Overseer of New
Testament Assembly, Pastor Samson Bamgbayan with a mandate to give orphans and
vulnerable children a beautiful and purposeful life.
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