Katsina State Government has lauded the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for supporting the government’s effort to take care of the welfare of its people, saying the gesture is a great relief.
The state Deputy Governor, Mannir Yakubu, gave the commendation while receiving relief items donated by NIMASA to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) in the state, in furtherance of the Agency’s support to victims of flood and other disasters across the country.
Alhaji Yakubu said the major cause of displacement in Katsina in the recent past was the activities of bandits. He, however, informed the NIMASA delegation that the government had closed almost all the IDP camps and reintegrated the victims into their communities to go about their business of farming.
“So far we have succeeded in closing all but one IDP camp so that our people can return to farming because they produce what they eat. We do not want to have a fresh crisis on our hands next year occasioned by food insecurity,” the Deputy Governor said.
But he assured that the State Emergency Management Agency will go to the localities of the victims and distribute the relief materials to them.
While presenting the materials at Government House, Katsina, the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, explained that the Board and Management of the Agency took the decision to provide succour to IDPs in 20 states in recognition of the plight of the victims, which according to him, cannot be handled by government alone.
Peterside said: “We saw a need to support victims of flood and other disasters because of the suffering they were going through as a result of being displaced from their abodes. And since government cannot do it alone, the Board and Management of NIMASA approved the provision of relief materials to 20 states in the country, Katsina being one of them, in order to ameliorate the people’s plight. That is why we are here today.”
While commending the Katsina State government for its resilience in dealing with flood and, recently, banditry in parts of the state, the Director-General called on other well-meaning Nigerians and corporate organisations to come to the aid of victims who have been displaced as a result of these social malaises.
The NIMASA DG, who was represented by the Director, Maritime Labour Services, Ibrahim Jibril, further said that the gesture was part of the Agency’s Corporate Social Responsibility.
Items presented by NIMASA included mattresses, mats, rice, grains, sugar, noodles, palm oil, vegetable oil and consumables, like baby diapers, detergents, soap, and disinfectants.
It would be recalled that NIMASA commenced the distribution of relief materials to 20 states of the federation in March this year with the flag off held at the Lagos State Emergency and Disaster Management Camp in Igando.