Nasarawa State governor, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, has appealed to donor agencies, as well as influential citizens of the state, to embark on humanitarian services, with a view to alleviating the plight of the less privileged members of the society.
Gov. Sule made the appeal while flagging off the distribution of assorted items, to physically challenged persons, orphans, widows and prison inmates, donated by the Al-Ansar Foundation, at the Government House, on Thursday.
While commending the founder and president of the Al-Ansar Foundation, Dr. Mohammed Kyari Dikwa, for the gesture, the governor urged other philanthropic organizations, wealthy individuals in the state, to emulate the foundation, in order to cushion the hardships being experienced by the downtrodden.
Engineer Sule described the distribution of the items by the Al-Ansar Foundation, as not only timely but strategic, especially that the gesture, will go a long way in improving the living conditions of the beneficiaries.
The governor added that the humanitarian gesture by the foundation was in line with the policy thrust of his administration, aimed at relieving the suffering of the people.
Engineer Sule recalled the efforts of his administration to cushion the negative impact of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, stressing that the government distributed assorted items and foods, across the 13 local government areas of the state.
According to the governor, this was in addition to various supports from other organizations, as well as the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs.
Earlier, in his opening address, founder and president of the Al-Ansar Foundation, Dr. Dikwa, said the gesture is the first in a series of what the foundation plans to bring to Nasarawa State.
Dr. Dikwa said his organization was motivated to reach out to the less privileged members of the society because resources available to governments to execute projects and programmes are mostly inadequate.
The Al-Ansar Foundation president noted that research has shown that, there is an alarming increase in the number of persons with disabilities in Northern Nigeria, as a result of the persistent conflicts.
He pointed out that, orphans and widows face a lot of social disconnections and discrimination in education, employment and access to public transportation.
Dr. Dikwa said it was for these reasons and more, that his foundation, a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit organisation, came up with the initiative, aimed at bringing succour to physically challenged persons, orphans and widows, through the provision of basic needs and other essential items to support them and their families.
“Our goal is to empower the most vulnerable and underprivileged citizens among us, to alleviate their sufferings while reducing poverty and hunger in our societies,” he stated.
Items distributed at the event include 200 wheelchairs, 2000 bags of 10kg rice, 100 cartons of vegetable oil, 200 sets of wrappers, 50 cartons of Frisco cream, 50 cartons of Peak Milk and 100 cartons of Moflix diapers.
