Madonna International Charity Peace Award
founded by Very Rev. Fr. Prof. EMP Edeh, CSSp is a charity Peace award that
goes to victims of disasters ranging from terrorism, war, famine, epidemic,
flood, earth quake, tsunami etc with the aim of giving succour and alleviating
the pain of the affected persons and in this way granting them peace.
Consequently, the philosophy of charity and being one's neighbour’s keeper is
amply demonstrated by this unassuming man of God.
The
inauguration of this famous award foundation took place on November 26, 2006
and since then, nominations and nominees for the award are normally drawn from
various parts of the world and after meticulous scrutiny of the diverse
nominees from across the globe, the MICPA board of judges usually arrive at the
name(s) that meet their criteria for the award.
On
the 6th of August 2015, the MICPA board of trustee in keeping with
the spirit of the Founding Father - which is to foster abundantly the acts of
practical and effective charity aimed at putting smiles on the faces of the
poor, the sick, the abandoned, the physically challenged, widows, orphans,
victims of catastrophic events etc donated the sum of $100, 000 to UNICEF to
support their activities and humanitarian services to camps of the Internally
Displaced Persons and the back to school programme for released Boko Haram
girls.
During the presentation of the Cheque
to UNICEF at the Headquarters of the Foundation at the Madonna University Peace
Centre in Elele, Rivers State, South South Nigeria, the Founder of MICPA
Foundation, Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Emmanuel
Edeh said the foundation is moved by the number of displaced persons in the
North East and as part of its own contribution, the foundation will continue to
partner with UNICEF in the provision of succour to displaced persons in the
north east.
The Board of the Foundation has also
approved university scholarship for 10 girls rescued from Boko Haram captivity
in any government tertiary institution of their choice.
The Founder also noted that he is
ready to meet with representatives of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in
and outside the country to negotiate the release of the kidnapped Chibok girls
and also seek a peaceful resolution to the present terrorism menace which has
overtaking the world of man. This donation is coming shortly after the
foundation donated heavily for the victims of the dreaded Ebola virus in Sierra
Leone
While commending the Foundation for
this laudable gesture, the Country Representative of UNICEF, Jean Gough, said the donation by the
foundation is the first of its kind by an indigenous foundation and called on all
well- meaning Nigerians to also join hands and support the humanitarian work
going on in the north east.
As part of the activities for the day, the UNICEF representative with
her entourage visited many self help projects and skills acquisition centres
put in place by Fr. Edeh where job opportunities and training in different
skills are given to the teaming youths in Nigeria and beyond. Yet another pot
of call was the home for the poorest of the poor, where thousands of displaced
people are housed and taken care of by Fr. Edeh.
The Chairman of the Board of MICPA and former Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs, Hon. Dubem Onyia, also disclosed that the fight against
terrorism should not be left in the hands of the government urging all
Nigerians to join hands to support the fight against terrorism and also to
engage in activities that will give a sense of human dignity to the internally
displaced persons.
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