Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Hajiya Sadiya Farouq has handed over one thousand mass housing units constructed in Ngwom village, Mafa local government to Borno state government for the resettlement of IDPs.
The Minister also launched the distribution of food and non food items to address food insecurity in the six states of the northeast.
At a ceremony in Maiduguri, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq said the ministry of Humanitarian Affairs had created a sub committee on food and nutrition security to effectively enhance and respond to food insecurity in the region.
The Minister expressed President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to address issues of food insecurity and and malnutrition which informed initiating the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy.
Borno state Governor Babagana Zulum lauded the federal government for approving the construction of ten thousand housing and other humanitarian and development projects in the state.
He called for more support to address the concerns of the state due to its peculiar situation.
Chairman North East Development Commission Governing Board Major General Paul Tarfa (rtd) noted the programmes initiated and implemented by the Commission had impacted greatly on the lives of vulnerable people in the region.
Managing Director North East Development Commission NEDC Alhaji Mohammed Akali said the 1,000 housing units was approved in 2019 under the Special Presidential Intervention at the cost of two billion naira to Borno state to ameliorate accommodation deficit to the displaced.
According to him, the two-bed room housing units will also consist of solar-powered street lights, four industrial solar-powered boreholes and provision for social amenities while the beneficiaries will be presented with food items and livelihood support to enable them build-back better.
Alhaji Mohammed Alkali promised to replicate the construction of 500 housing units in each of the five states of the region.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs inaugurated the Burn Centre at University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, performed ground breaking of 300 capacity auditorium at Center for Countering Violent Extremism and presented certificates to 216 batch B Northeast Development Commission ICT training scheme.
She was accompanied by Minister of Women Affairs Mrs Pauline Tallen, Minister of State Education Chukwuemeka Nwajuba, UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator Edward Kallon, Charman Senate Committee on Special Duties Senator Yusuf Yusuf among other dignitaries.
Dauda Iliya
