Gov Ugwuanyi Hails ‘Win A Trip To Israel’ Lottery

Vice Chairman, Media Veterans Association Enugu (MVAE), Igwe Tony Ojukwu (2nd-left), Chairman of MVAE, Ozor Peter Orjirkwe (3rd-left), Special Guest, Igwe Lawrence Agubuzu (3rd-right), and members, during the 3rd anniversary of the association in Enugu yesterday.

Governor of Enugu
State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has said that the ‘Win a Trip to Israel’ lottery programme would lessen the burden of government sponsorship of Christian pilgrims to Israel every year.
Ugwuanyi said this during the launch of the ‘Win a Trip to Israel’, an innovation introduced by the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) in 2016, to ensure sustainability of Christian pilgrimage to Israel.
Our correspoent reports that the lottery programme is being implemented through a collaborative effort between the NCPC and the National Lottery Regulation Commission (NLRC).
This innovation became imperative to relieve governments at all levels the burden of sponsorship of intending Christian pilgrims.
It also aims at providing the opportunity for Christians who cannot afford the cost of pilgrimage by themselves to be sponsored through this programme.
While commending NCPC and NLRC for the initiative, Ugwuanyi said that 35 beneficiaries would be selected from each of the 260 wards in the state.
He urged the organisers to ensure that only indigent Christians benefitted.
Earlier, the NCPC Executive Secretary, Mr John-Kennedy Opara, said it was expected that 9,100 Christian pilgrims would be sponsored to Israel this year through the ‘Win a Trip to Israel’ programme.
Okpara explained that the objective of the programme was to ensure that financially-challenged Christians were assisted to go on pilgrimage to Israel in order to boost their spiritual health.
He commended Enugu State Government for its support over the years and promised that the commission would ensure the sustainability of the programme.
Also speaking, the lottery Commission Director-General, Mr Adolphus Ekpe, said that ‘Win a Trip to Israel’ lottery is an innovation initiated through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two commissions.
Ekpe said that the idea was to ensure the sustainability of the Christian pilgrimage by providing an opportunity for the financially-challenged Christians to perform the spiritual exercise at minimal cost.
According to him, the programme will create employment opportunity for lottery operators as well as generate revenue to government and other stakeholders.
The director-general pledged that the commission would ensure transparency and spiritual integrity in the administration of the programme, adding that the operators would be held accountable at all times.