Nigerian widows and women generally have been told to help train the youths including their children, to cultivate positive attitudes towards their society.
Founder and leader of a faith-based group, Message of Salvation Women Ministry, MSWM, Mrs. Florence Ajagbe, made the appeal in Ilorin on Saturday, December 9, 2025.
She said many youths had been adversely affected by broken homes as a result of neglect of Christian values by some parents and guardians.
She spoke at the ministry’s annual gathering for widows and the less endowed as part of this year’s Christmas festivities.
About 12,000 widows have benefitted over the past twenty years from the Christmas “Give Them Relief” Programme for Widows, an annual outreach sponsored by the MSWM.
At the occasion, over one thousand women from various Christian denominations returned home joyfully with food items, clothing, and financial gifts to mark the Christmas season.
Over ₦60 million has so far been invested in the relief programme, which began in 2005 when the ministry launched its women-focused spiritual sensitisation effort through a popular radio programme, offering prayers and counselling to widows at its former office on Yoruba Road, Ilorin.
This year’s event, held at the ECWA Event Hall, Challenge, Ilorin, recorded the largest turnout since inception.
Faces beamed with joy as each participant received generous food supplies and cash gifts from Madam Ajagbe, who described the support as “a token of love.”
The programme featured special song renditions, drama presentations, and a quiz competition.
Many widows gave testimonies about the ministry’s impact on their spiritual growth and welfare, noting that some of their children’s school fees had been paid through the ministry’s support.
In her address, Ajagbe urged widows to be good ambassadors of Christ, maintaining lifestyles free of lust and ungodly conduct.
She cautioned elderly women against becoming a burden in the matrimonial homes of their children through negative counselling or gossip.
Regretting the growing trend of older women meddling in their children’s marriages, she advised widows in the ministry to draw spiritual wisdom from Bible study and to help build the attitude of Nigerian youths, many of whom, she lamented, were dealing with broken homes caused by poor parental guidance.
Speaking on the challenges confronting the ministry, Madam Ajagbe revealed that the organisation had been temporarily displaced from its rented office due to renovation by the landlord.
She appealed to government agencies, well-meaning individuals, and corporate bodies to assist the ministry in securing a permanent office space.
The ministry’s secretary, Mrs. Mary Oladele, echoed the appeal, warning that the spiritual welfare of more than 300 widows who depended on weekly Bible study meetings could be jeopardised if the accommodation issue persisted.
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