Federal Govt Gives Food, Nutritional Items To 1,000 Vulnerable Niger Households

The federal government through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has flagged off the distribution of food and nutritional items to 1,000 vulnerable households from the three senatorial zones of Niger State.

The minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Benard Mohammed Doro, said the exercise which is under the Presidential Initiative for Food and Nutrition Assistance represented a decisive and people-centered intervention by the government to support vulnerable households.

He said the scheme was aimed at stabilizing affected communities, and reinforce food security across the state.

The minister said the initiative also reflected President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in ensuring that food security, poverty reduction, and social protection remain central to governance.

He said the ministry acknowledged that Niger State occupies a uniquely strategic position in the national development framework and remained central to Nigeria’s food production, informing the reason why the humanitarian pressures faced by the state needed to be addressed squarely.

Dr. Doro revealed that there were plans to partner the Niger State government to ensure that beneficiaries and affected populations across the state are captured in the ongoing National Social Register expansion exercise that will make them eligible for a range of Federal Government Social Protection and Poverty Reduction Programmes.

Niger State governor Mohammed Umaru Bago in his remarks described the event as significant to the state while appreciating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his numerous interventions and support to the state during challenging times.

Bago admitted that the landmass of the state made it impossible to police without interventions from the federal government, international partners and donor agencies just as the overflow of water from the four hydropower dams in the state affects communities at the lower Niger Basin.

On insecurity,  the governor also disclosed that the backlash from the activities of extremists and banditry groups in the North West was spilling into Niger State and bringing in humanitarian crises with many families displaced.