Worried at the reported unhealthy conditions of the Internally displaced
persons in various camps across the country, President of Dangote Group,
Aliko Dangote has called on well-meaning Nigeria to rise up to the
occasion and assist government in ameliorating the situation in IDPs
camps.
Dangote said this is the time that wealthy Nigerians should stand up and
be counted as thousands of fellow citizens are languishing in the camps
due to insufficient facilities and food items.
The business mogul who recently donated N2 billion and millions of Naira
worth of food items on behalf of the Dangote Foundation, to the IDPs when
a visited some of the camps in Maiduguri in Bornu state urged Nigerians
to have empathy for those in the camps.
Speaking during a visit by North East Development Coalition to his office
at the weekend, the Chairman of the Dangote Foundation said he was
particularly moved by the reports of deaths and malnutrition which have
hit the camps saying “We cannot open our eyes and allow our fellow
citizens continue to suffer like this for no fault of theirs. We need to
partner with the government and help those in the camps.
“It is obvious government alone cannot cater for this people, not even at
this time when there is a paucity fund. These people need our help and
with what God has provided for us we need to help them”, he stated while
describing the situation in the entire North East as requiring all
possible humanitarian assistance”, he stated.
Within a spate of five years, the total amount donated to various camps
of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), across the country by the Dangote
Foundation has grown significantly to N6. 3billion.
It would be recalled that a sum of N364 million was donated to IDPs
across Kaduna, Bauchi and Gombe states after the post-election violence
in 2011 rendered many homeless while in another breath the sum of N100
million and N60 million were respectively donated to victims of flood
disaster in Lagos and Oyo State in 2011.
Dangote Foundation donated N2.5 billion in 2012 to IDPs affected by the
flood disaster across 22 states of the federation and N39.34 million to
those IDPs displaced by the communal clash in Benue state in 2014.
While N42.5 million was used in feeding 5000 IDP households across Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa states last year, N100 million and N50 million were
respectively contributed to the Appeal fund raised by Daily Trust
newspapers to cater for the IDPs in the Northeast and to support the
Adamawa Peace Initiative all for the IDPs. The sum of N1 billion was also
recently pledged to Victim Support Fund for IDPs across the Northeast.
Dangote promised the Coalition that he would do everything within his
power to assist the IDPs and improve their suffering. He also made a
commitment to end malnutrition and hunger in the camps and other parts of
the country.
He said: “The first major challenge is the physiological needs of these
people, and food, nutrition rank right on top of that ladder. So we will
first make serious effort to ensure that hunger is eliminated from the
IDP camps and thereafter, we will begin to make effort to create jobs and
boost entrepreneurship.
“The effort to create jobs and boost enterprise in this case will not be
about making money or returning investment, rather it will be primarily
to create opportunities for the people,” he said.
Also speaking during the visit, the Executive Director of Dangote Group,
Halima Aliko-Dangote, assured them that Dangote foundation will live up
to its promise of supporting them and meeting them at their point of
need, praying that their travails will soon be over. She stressed that
her father, apart from the direct support he would be giving to the
people, would also pull his partners and contacts in the private sector
to collaborate and support the people of the state.
“As an executive director on the board of the foundation, I saw that it
was very important for me and others to actuality visit the IDP camps in
Borno State ourselves. This experience has solidified our commitment to
support the people during this difficult time,” she said.
In his remark, the Head of the Coalition, Galadima Musa commended the
Dangote for taking the lead again in task of helping the IDPs in the
North East, who he said had suffered unimaginable devastation. “Words
are not enough to say how grateful we are and we must thank Aliko
Dangote”, he said