The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has donated the sum of N3 billion to Borno State Government for distribution to support small business owners who were mostly affected by the flood disaster that ravaged Maiduguri, the Borno State capital last Tuesday.
The commission also released N50 million for the cleaning of the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi, which was overtaken by the flood.
The donations was announced on Tuesday when the chairman of board of NEDC, Maj Gen. Paul Tarfa (rtd) led members of the board and the management team of the NEDC to pay a sympathy visit to the Governor of Borno State over the flood incident that occurred in the State.
Speaking during the visit, the Managing Director of the NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, said the board made some key resolution on how it can intervene in Borno State as a result of what happened.
He said the first point of the resolution dealt with how small businesses that are mostly affected can be assisted, adding that a look on Borno State showed that most of the people affected are small businesses or people that depend on stipends.
“After the review, the board approved that the sum of N3 billion be released to the Borno government for distribution to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small businesses that were affected by the flood.
“The board also decided that the Commission should be fully involved in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected facilities in the areas of supply of construction materials such as zinc, woods among others. Repairs of damaged infrastructures, roads, bridges among others. The commission is also to handle issues like fumigation of the city and issues of sanitation, health, water and hygiene.
“So once the full assessment is done and the report is out, the Commission will get involved along with other partners to assist Borno in those areas as the case may be. Also in terms of immediate support, because people have lost whatever they have, the board directed that we should provide 20,000 bags of 25kg of rice, 20,000 cartons of macaroni and 10,000 cartons of vegetable oil.
Earlier speaking, the Chairman of the board of NEDC, Maj. Gen Paul Tarfa ( rtd ), prayed that such incident that occurred in Borno State should never happen again even in other parts of the country.
He said, “We are all together in this issue. To say we are here to commiserate with you is not right thing, but to commiserate with all of us. We saw what happened, we heard it, we felt it and we are still dealing with. So we are very sorry your Excellency and pray that God will give you the wisdom and strength to face the situation.
“Even though this has happened, there will still be lessons to learn from what happened. What is it that has happened? What is it that we have to learn now.,” he said.
In his remarks, Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum thanked the Commission for coming to sympathise with him. He urged NEDC to be more visible in discharging its responsibility to the people of Borno, especially the victims of the flood.
He recalled the numerous projects the commission has executed in the state and said that the most important thing to do is to ensure that before the tenure of the Commission ends is to see the state government and the commission can plan and work together.
Meanwhile, the President and Chairman of Aminu Dantata Group of Companies, Alhaji Aminu Dogo Al Hassan Dantata announced a donation of N1.5 billion to support the victims of the Maiduguri flood disaster.
Also, the people of Southern Borno Senatorial District donated N200m to the Borno State Government as part of their contributions to victims of the Maiduguri flood disaster. The donation was presented by representatives of the zone comprising nine Local Government Areas led by Sen. Ali Ndume and Deputy Governor of Borno, Alhaji Umar Kadafur.
Similarly, Mr Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party Presidential Candidate, also paid a similar visit to Governor Zulum and the Shehu of Borno, announcing a donation of N50 million.
Other notable visitors and donors include PDP National Chairman, Bashir Damagum, who led a PDP delegation and announced a donation of N25 million; Former PDP Governorship Candidate, Hon. Mohammed Imam, who donated N50 million; and Engineer Usman Tijjani, Borno State Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), who made a token donation of cash and relief materials.
Other donors include the Al Amana Aid Group Chairman, who donated N1 million and pledged more educational and humanitarian services to the affected people; the Senate President, Senator God’s Will Akpabio, who donated N100 million; and the former Senate President, Senator Dr Ahmed Lawal, who donated N50 million.
In addition, Taraba State delegation led by the Rt. Hon. Speaker Tarabia State House of Assembly comprising of 15 traditional rulers and 7 members of the state assembly among others announced a donation of N200 million.
