With talent hunt project, Abia governor’s wife paints future for youths

IN a bid to encourage and nurture the youths of the state on how to make a living with their God given talents, the wife of the Abia State governor, Chief Lady (Mrs.) Odochi Mercy Orji, has extended her humanitarian hands into the showbiz industry with a talent hunt programme and movie production aimed at discovering the unharnessed youthful talents amongst the Abia citizens.

Supervised by Magic Lens Picture Limited, the project which is targeted at secondary school students, especially those in the rural areas, will provide the platform to discover and    harness the many talents abound in the state, who due to hardship or lack of opportunity, do not have the medium to showcase their talents.

Already, the search commenced at Umuahia North, where four schools in each area were given an opportunity to hone their skills in acting. While the seventeen days tour at the local government areas that make up Abia, will end with a grand finale on November 28, 2012.

Tagged First Abia Secondary School Talent Hunt Show and Movie Production, the initiative, according to Chief Mrs. Odochi Orji, is another opportunity to put smiles on the faces of Abia youths. Aside from creating opportunities, the project is also targeted at putting Abia state among the leading state in showbiz industry, which is currently employing thousands across the nation.

In her remark, one of the participants from the Community Grammar School, Oloko, Adiuko Goodluck expressed gratitude over the kind gesture of the governor’s wife, which according to her will go a long way in impacting their lives positively.

“I feel so excited being part of this programme. I pray for its sustenance and continuity so to enable other inopportune students to be part of it, because it has positively impacted our lives.”

It would be recalled that the talent hunt project is an arm of the First Lady’s programmes being executed through Hannah May Foundation, which comprises of an NGO known as the Family Empowerment Programme (FEP). FEP, which is focused on implementing her social and humanitarian programmes, was founded as a response to the widespread social disadvantages in the state that has impacted negatively on family values, thereby undermining the role of the family unit in the development process. The idea is therefore to provide a platform for redirecting the focus of development efforts on the family as a strategy for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Mrs. Orji, who recently built and furnished house for some widows and less privilege families informed that her involvement in charity is never by accident.

“All these things I’m doing, I didn’t start it today; I started long ago when I was working with the ministry when I was a member of the International Volunteers. Those days, I used to go to hospitals, buy things and give to the sick. I made apron, which I usually wear to the hospitals as a volunteer. That time, my husband was a permanent secretary. If you suffered in your life and end up becoming somebody, you must realise one day that you started somewhere. Whenever I see these indigent kids and the less privileged, it really affects me,” she said.