TRACKING >>It was mixed feelings for the family of Evangelist Ibe, following his wife’s delivery of a set of quadruplets at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State.
While many visit prayer houses and traditional medicine practitioners in search of fruits of the womb, Ibe’s family was blessed with four kids at a go, a blessing he described as ‘overdose.’
The cleric, a native of Mbaitoli, Imo State, attached to St. Barth’s Anglican Church, Umuezeagu Uruagu, Nnewi, said the news of the quadruplets threw him off balance as he was not expecting four at a time.
He expressed concerns over how to settle the hospital bills, feed the babies and take care of some other challenges in view of the economic hardship in the country.
Ibe said, “Immediately after the delivery, somebody came where I was waiting and said to me, congratulations father of four.
“I shouted, Jesus! I was not expecting four at a go. Actually, we were told from the scan conducted in one of the hospitals in Nnewi that the babies were three but, to my greatest surprise, they turned out to be four and that threw me off balance.”
He appealed to the state government and public-spirited individuals to come to his aid to enable him cope with the situation.
Fortunately, intervention came through one of the persons he extended the distress call to: Chief Louis Carter Onwugbenu, an Nnewi-born industrialist.
Onwugbenu, who requested for the bills on arrival at the NAUTH, could not hold back his generosity as he ended up offsetting bills of over 12 indigent mothers at the maternity ward who were unable to foot their bills.
He also offered scholarship to the quadruplets to study up to tertiary level in any higher institution of their choice, anywhere, under the Louis Carter Foundation, where other indigent students were beneficiaries over the years.
According to him, the gesture, which amounted to over N1.5m, was part of the activities marking his 66th birthday celebrations.
He said, “I didn’t carry out this act of kindness because I’m the richest within my environment but I see it as a responsibility and as a way of appreciating God for his numerous blessings.”
Onwugbenu called on government and other philanthropists to always respond to the cry of the indigent, stressing that, “no one knows who will be what tomorrow.”
Chief Medical Director, NAUTH, Prof. Anthony Igwegbe, expressed appreciation to the philanthropist for his magnanimity, saying he had always been known for such at the hospital.
“You have always reflected your chieftaincy title of “Okpata Ozue Ora Nnewi” (He who utilises his wealth to help others) in your actions,” he added.
Igwegbe prayed for God’s blessing upon his life.
Responding, the Ibes and other beneficiaries of the largesse were full of praise to God and the benefactor, being the instrument used to rescue them from financial embarrassment.
