The Vice President, His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shettima, on Friday visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Gwada, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.
He explained that the visit was at the directives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and to reaffirm the commitment of the federal government to the people of Niger State towards addressing the devastating effects of floods and insecurity challenges that had bedevilled the country.
Shettima explained further that the visit was a symbolic gesture and an assessment tour and assured the people and the state government that the president was determined to support the state at all times.
“We have come to reaffirm the commitment of the President towards ameliorating the sufferings of our people.
“We are aware many lives have been lost and people have lost means of livelihoods as well as property estimated at several worth millions of Naira were affected. I learnt about 14 (fourteen) local government areas are affected in Niger State.
“We have come on an assessment tour, and we assured the government and people of Niger State that the president is poised to assist all states of the Federation,” the vice president further assured.
Senator Kashim Shettima, however, announced that N3 billion has been released to each state of the Federation to assist them in addressing issues of flooding.
He emphasised that a scientific approach and assessment would be done on states like Borno, Niger, Sokoto, Delta, Jigawa, and Bayelsa, respectively, with more incidents of floods, highlighting that all states would be fully supported.
According to him, this was because governance was all about the people and because the President has the interests of the people at heart.
“He sleeps with Nigerians in his mind and wakes up with Nigerians in his mind, and this is an upper empty and support.
He stressed that the visit was alongside Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara State, who doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and Minister for Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris (aka Malagi)
He added that others in his entourage were the Deputy Chief of Staff and Minister of State for Agriculture, former Senator Abdullahi Sabi, and the Director General of NEMA to show that the President was concerned about ameliorating the conditions of the people.
On the recent Petrol Tanker explosion that claimed the lives of about 60 people, Shettima said the President had intervened decisively in the area of infrastructure, especially on East-West and Badagri-Sokoto roads.
He noted that the road where the Petrol Tanker accident occurred was under construction, adding that the federal government would continue to do its utmost to address the challenges of the infrastructure deficit in the country.
Consequently, in his remarks, Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, added that the visit was to sympathise with people affected by flood disasters and insecurity challenges bedevilling the state and thanked the vice president for the visit.
Meanwhile, the general IDP statistics in Niger State were put at 46,853 displaced persons, while 5, 863 households were affected, just as no fewer than about 5, 863 and 23, 450 men and women were affected, with 17, 540 children also affected in floods, disasters, banditry, and communal conflicts.
The items donated to the IDPs by the Vice President were relief materials such as mattresses and food items such as bags of rice, beans, Jerricans of groundnut oil, salt, soap, and blankets, among others.
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