Foundation Distributes Food Items To 400 Families In Lagos

The Muyiwa Ajayi-Bembe Foundation has brought relief to over 400 families in Lagos Island area through its annual Women Christmas Outreach 2025, aimed at easing hardship and spreading hope during the festive season.

The outreach, organised by Ajayi-Bembe Olumuyiwa & Friends, held at the Obanikoro Palace, Lagos Island, featured the distribution of food items including 10kg bags of rice and bottles of vegetable oil to beneficiaries, mostly women and vulnerable households.

Speaking at the event, founder of the foundation, Muyiwa Ajayi-Bembe, a public servant, said the initiative was driven by compassion and a sense of responsibility to the community, especially in view of the current economic challenges facing many families.

He explained that the Muyiwa Ajayi-Bembe Foundation was established in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many residents were struggling to meet basic needs.

“The foundation started during COVID with a few of my friends. People had serious concerns about feeding, so we were doing outreaches every other week, moving from one zone to another,” he said.

According to him, what began as emergency support during the pandemic later evolved into a structured community development effort involving friends, brothers and volunteers within the area.

After the lockdown period, the foundation organised a football competition to promote unity and social bonding among youths, and subsequently provided three boreholes across the community to improve access to clean water.

Ajayi-Bembe noted that the Christmas outreach has now become an annual tradition of the foundation, targeted at supporting families at the end of every year.

“Every December, we do a giveaway like this. This year alone, we are reaching over 400 families. We see it as our duty, especially considering the hardship in the country,” he said.

He added that the outreach was also meant to complement the efforts of the Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in cushioning the effects of economic reforms on citizens.

“This is just to ease a little bit of tension during this period and support what Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing for the country,” he said.

Ajayi-Bembe urged residents to remain peaceful and patient, expressing optimism that ongoing reforms would yield positive results.

“They should continue to be peace lovers and patient. The APC government is trying its best. We can see changes and modifications. I can guarantee that the country will be better,” he assured.

Obanikoro and Secretary of all Traditional Chiefs in Lagos, Chief Adesoji Adeniji Ajayiwele, commended the foundation for its sustained commitment to grassroots welfare and community development.

He described the initiative as timely and impactful, noting that such acts of generosity strengthen communal bonds and offer hope to vulnerable residents, particularly women, during difficult economic periods.

The monarch urged other well-meaning individuals and organisations to emulate the gesture by supporting community-based interventions that directly touch the lives of the people.

Some beneficiaries who spoke at the event commended the foundation for the timely intervention.

One of them, Mrs. Ajibola Owolabi, said the gesture brought joy to many families this Christmas.

“Hon. Muyiwa Obanikoro called us to come here today to give us rice and oil for Christmas. There are some people who have the money to do this but they can’t. I’m very happy and appreciative. I pray God continually bless him and uphold his family. He should keep doing what he does,” she said.

Another beneficiary, Mrs. Monilola Aromokun, also expressed gratitude, describing the outreach as a consistent show of support for women in the community.

“We give thanks to the Honourable for this kind gesture. He shouldn’t relent. He has proven himself to help women in need and in return we say thank you,” she said.

The Women Christmas Outreach forms part of the foundation’s broader commitment to grassroots support, community development and social welfare in Obanikoro and its environs.