The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in collaboration with the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), has flagged off the distribution of items for its special intervention programme in Niger State.
Flagging off the distribution of the items at the Niger Agricultural Mechanisation and Development Agency (NAMDA) office in Minna on Saturday, the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Comrade Yakubu Garba, applauded NEMA for the gesture.
The Deputy Governor, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Chief of Staff in the Deputy Governor's office, Mallam Bello Ibrahim, said Niger State really needed the intervention, being one of the states that is most hit by flood disasters and banditry.
He disclosed that the gesture will go a long way in reducing the hardship faced by victims of banditry and floods in the state, adding that, like Oliver Twist, the state needed more intervention from NEMA.
"You know that Niger State has its fair share of banditry activities and also floods; for this, we will continue to knock on your door for more intervention," said the Deputy Governor.
While appreciating NEMA for the gesture and also assuring the agency that the state government, through NSEMA, will ensure that the items are utilised for the purposes they were meant for.
In his remarks, the Acting Director General of NSEMA, Mallam Salihu Garba (Sarkin Samarin Minna), said the intervention was in two categories: the livelihood support intervention for vulnerable groups and the flood victims intervention.
He disclosed that a team from the national headquarters of NEMA was in Niger State last month for the enumeration of potential beneficiaries of the intervention programme, adding that about 23,000 beneficiaries were captured and issued slips as a form of identification across the 25 local government areas of the state.
Mallam Salihu Garba said the event was a flag-off ceremony for the first phase of the distribution of the items, as the distribution had been arranged into four phases.
He also disclosed that the items to be given to beneficiaries of the livelihood category were empowerment items such as grinding and sawing machines, along with a food basket consisting of food items such as rice, beans, Guinea corn, and oil, among other food items and ingredients.
The NSEMA boss revealed that there was also an agricultural intervention basket that consisted of seedlings such as rice and maize seedlings with other farm implements accompanying them, which included liquid fertiliser, herbicides, growth enhancers, and pumping machines.
The Sarkin Samarin Minna added that the distribution exercise was expected to last for about a week, as according to him, they have to transport the items to some of the local government areas for distribution with the help of the respective local government councils.
The distribution of the items was kicked off in Shiroro Local Government Area, where about 30 beneficiaries were given their items in a symbolic presentation.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke at the flag-off ceremony appreciated the state government and NEMA for the gesture, promising to utilise the items for the purpose they were meant for.