Dateline 11 June, 2025, on a bustling Wednesday afternoon, in the dusty but serene neighbourhood of Simawa, a suburb of Sagamu Town, Ogun State, South West Nigeria. I was sitting in a car parked within the premises of the Nigeria Police Station in Simawa. I had just wrapped up an assignment and on the way back to Lagos, but for that stopover at the Police station, I may not have been opportuned to witness the show of human kindness which flowed across the major streets of the largely agrarian community.
I was gathering my thoughts on the angle to use in getting over the report I was working on when a sudden and seemingly noisy atmosphere of some kind of euphoria rented the stillness. Voices rose, footsteps quickened, and in the distance, the hum of anticipation filled the air.
Out of my natural curiosity and instinct, I stepped out of the car to observe for myself. Alas, it wasn’t any sort of unrest, but rather a scene of extraordinary display of humanity. Beneath the shade of the midday sun, a team of volunteers was organized with a food truck loaded to capacity and the organisers were calmly and cheerfully distributing food relief packs to dozens of families gathered outside the station.
At the centre of this effort stood a woman whose presence radiated quiet leadership, coordination, modesty, and milk of human kindness. Her name, I later learnt, is Adunni Oloko, the Initiator of “Project Adun”.
According to her, “Project Adun” is no ordinary charitable drive. It is a carefully conceived grassroot initiative designed to ease the daily burdens of families struggling with the ever-rising cost of living in Nigeria. In a country where inflation has made food increasingly unaffordable for many, the mission could not be more urgent.
“The idea,” Adunni explained, “is not just to give food, but to give relief, mental, emotional, and economic. Even if it’s just for one week, we want families to breathe easier.”
The food packs, distributed free of charge, contain dry staples that form the backbone of most Nigerian meals – rice, garri, beans, seasoning, cooking oil, and more with each pack estimated worth about #20, 000 (Twenty thousand naira).
However, what makes “Project Adun” truly remarkable is its attention to detail; tucked into each pack are candies and treats for children. Though a seemingly minor addition, yet one that speaks volumes for the entire family. It transforms the experience from one of mere survival into one of dignity, care, and even joy.
The name Adun, which means “sweetness” in Yoruba, is both a reflection of the founder’s own name and the ethos of the project, to deliver not just sustenance, but warmth, kindness, and humanity to those who need it most.
The Simawa event is just one of the many “Projects Adun” plans to host across communities in Nigeria. The initiative, Adunni tells me, will run annually, with the goal of scaling its reach while maintaining its deeply personal touch.
In a world grappling with widening inequality and dwindling trust in institutions, this grassroots effort offers a powerful counter-narrative. Here is a young Nigerian woman mobilizing her community through empathy, initiative, and vision.The results are tangible: children with smiles on their faces, parents with one less worry for the week, neighbors coming together not in protest, but in purpose.
This is the story we often don’t hear every day, well except perhaps during the electioneering period when “stomach infrastructure” is used as a gimmick to get the hungry downtrodden populace into voting.
A story, not of crisis but the quiet leadership rising from within us. The kind that doesn’t wait for government intervention or international aid, but simply begins with the question: What can I do for the people around me?
For many of the beneficiaries, the food is only a part of what they receive. They walk away with a renewed sense of community, a moment of dignity in hard times, and, perhaps most importantly, a belief that they matter in the heart of a concerned individual.
In a nation facing economic uncertainty and growing social unrest, “Project Adun’s” initiative offers a model worth replicating, not just in Nigeria but globally. It’s a reminder that solutions don’t always need to come from massive institutions or sweeping reforms. Sometimes, real change begins with an individual, a vision, and a bag of food packed with sweetness.
As I watched the last of the food packs handed out and the crowd begins to disperse, I couldn’t help but reflect on how rare and necessary moments like this are. In the midst of political uncertainties, economic stress, and a populace growing weary of promises, here was something to cheer about no matter how momentary it was.
Without doubt or despair, “Project Adun” offers a simple alternative: act locally, love deliberately, and lead with kindness.
In Simawa, on that warm June 11th afternoon, a group of volunteers, and a kind hearted womand, didn’t just feed people – they reminded them they were not forgotten, and that may be the sweetest gift of all.
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