The Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, yesterday, paid a visit to the displaced persons camp in Edo State and donated relief materials worth millions of naira to the victims.
Co-Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who led the team to Edo State said the state was the first in the list of affected states to be visited.
While sympathizing with the governor and people of the state over the flood disaster, Alhaji Dangote said: “this committee is made of heavy weights from the various professions. They are not here to make money out of this. We are trying to see if we can raise one hundred billion naira. We had a fund raising at the villa at Abuja and we have actually raised twelve billion.”
“I want to assure you that the displaced Nigerians would not be left to suffer. We will come to their rescue. We will help not only in terms of flood but we will make sure that they would be better off than they were before” he noted.
In his response, Governor Adams Oshiomhole thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for providing the leadership to galvanize support for the victims of displaced persons because the challenge of the flooding is enormous.
He said: “I want to appreciate Mr. President for putting up such a high-powered committee who have laboured to get to the level where they are and whose compassion to share part of their resources in a coordinated effort to mitigate the sufferings of those affected, and give them hope. Mr. President has done extremely well. He has helped to tell us, as Nigerians, that we should be our brothers’ keeper in our time of need”, he noted.
The governor lamented the gravity of the flood saying, “the challenge of the flood is enormous. In the short run, we want to make sure that our brothers and sister are not allowed to die of starvation having been displayed by the flood, their Farmlands destroyed, livestock destroyed and family life destabilized.”
While expressing joy that Nigerians have reacted positively to the displaced persons by donating relief materials he disclosed that he is encouraged by the way Nigerians have reacted across the length and breadth of the country.
He maintained that, “this is a positive indication that Nigerians have shown that we are one and the same. It is important in terms of the politics of national unity.”
The Governor, who commended Dangote for the personal interest he has shown in the industrialization of the state and for devoting time to these humanitarian efforts, stated that, “I am confident that the additional relief materials which I hear is quite a lot will go a long way to make the camps more comfortable.
“I want to assure you that only those who deserve to benefit will benefit. Your visit will give them a lot of psychological relief that people they have heard of and not seen, but this disaster has brought them to the local communities” he added.
The committee donated 1,500 bags of 5kg rice, 1,500 bags of 5kg gari; 1,500 cartons of noodles; 3,000 bags of 1kg bags of salt; 2,000 bags of water; 1,500 1 litre pack of palm oil; 7,500 1kg bag of sugar; 750 sanitary packs; 250 mattresses; 1,000 blankets; 700 clothing materials for men and 700 ankara materials.
