Anambra drivers set up N150 million welfare foundation

By Chimaobi Nwaiwu, Nnewi

THE Anambra State Drivers Welfare Association, ASDWA, has established a N150 million welfare foundation, known as Anambra State Drivers Welfare Foundation, ASDWF, towards taking care of themselves and helping their members who run into health and accident problems in the course of their jobs and to help their bereaved family members.

Speaking with South East Voice, President of ASDWA, Chief Emmanuel Ukatu, said the funds from the foundation will also be used to carry out charity works and to invest in ventures that will generate funds for the foundation from where it will be getting money to sustain it.

He said that the ASDWF will be a separate entity that will be managed by a different body from the ASDWA to ensure that the leadership of the drivers association does not meddle with the funds from the foundation.

Ukatu said,“The drivers welfare should be one of the most important things that should be considered in their jobs, because in the civil service, they have pension for pensioners. The drivers have made up their minds to have something similar to fall back on when they are weak, have health challenges and are involved in accidents, just as to help their families in death.

“We will not be drivers for ever, some other time, one will like to relax and hand over to the younger ones. For that, we decided to establish the association, to be helping ourselves, fellow drivers and their families and incapacitated members.

Donations fromgovernment

Before now, we have not had any scheme through which we helped ourselves, but we used to help our members through borrowing and other sources and later we pay back. But such borrowing was not certain as you may be disappointed by people who promised to lend money to you.

“However, with our foundation, there will be steady money from where funds can be given as loan, grants, assistance or help to our members. That is our aim of establishing the foundation.”

He appealed for donations from the government and all the people who are benefiting from the services of the drivers, adding that in some states, government gives vehicle empowerment and other empowerments to drivers unions and associations.

“The government should extend such gestures to us so that we will use them to generate funds for our foundation. They can even give us loans. In some states, they do that and we will like government to do that for us. We want to be carried along in the affairs of the state.

“Some of the vehicles given to the state transport agency can be given to us. They should try us and see what we will make out of it, and we are in a better position to handle those vehicles better because it is our profession. You cannot tell a lawyer to go and trade, neither will you tell a doctor to be a mechanic. In the driving industry, we are the experts. We speak the language the drivers and passengers understand, more than any other person. Motor business is not best managed by politicians and civil servants. They will not do it well, but we have the capacity to manage it well, we have the ideas and knows the tricks in it,” he said.

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