Hon. Maurice Orwough is a man who believes in elevating the human race. Concerned by the needs of others, has been using his philanthropy to transform the lives of countless people within and outside his community.
He established his scholarship scheme known as: "Hon. Maurice Orwough Scholarship Scheme 2024" with the aim of uplifting 100 students, 10 from each of the 10 council wards in Guma Local Government Area, Benue State at the pilot stage of the scheme.
Hon. Orwough upholds the ideology of philanthropy by Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) who came from Scotland to the United States in 1848, and his family settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. At age thirteen, Andrew went to work as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He then moved rapidly through a succession of jobs with Western Union and the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1865, he resigned to establish his own business enterprises and eventually organized the Carnegie Steel Company, which launched the steel industry in Pittsburgh. At age sixty-five, he sold the company to J. P. Morgan for $480 million and devoted the rest of his life to his philanthropic activities and writing. During his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million.
Just like Carnegie, Orwough has made enormous sacrifices to put smiles on the faces of children, youths, women and widows so that they will be able to help themselves to also make impact on their respective communities.
Many persons of wealth have contributed to charity, but Carnegie was perhaps the first to state publicly that the rich have a moral obligation to give away their fortunes. In 1889, he wrote The Gospel of Wealth, in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community.
Even though, Orwough is not as rich as Carnegie was, he takes it as a moral obligation to give away his fortunes as trust fund to be administered for the benefit of Guma community and beyond.
Carnegie's philanthropic interests centered around the goals of education and world peace. One of his lifelong interests was the establishment of free public libraries to make available to everyone a means of self-education. There were only a few public libraries in the world when, in 1881, Carnegie began to promote his idea. He and the Carnegie Corporation subsequently spent over $56 million to build 2,509 libraries throughout the English-speaking world.
Carnegie set about disposing of his fortune through innumerable personal gifts and through the establishment of various trusts. Each of the organizations established by Andrew Carnegie has its own funds and trustees and is independently managed.
Like Carnegie, Hon. Orwough through his scholarship scheme and other acts of his philosophy is a message to others to do the best they can to touch lives no matter how little it might be. What they might see as little in their eyes can go a long way to change lives. He believes that together, we can make our communities better through philanthropy.
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