The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has donated N3 billion to the Borno State Government for distribution to small business owners in Maiduguri. These owners were affected mainly by the flood disaster that ravaged the Borno State capital last Tuesday.
The commission also released N50 million for the cleaning of the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Elkanemi, which was overtaken by the flood.
The donations were announced on Tuesday when the chairman of the board of NEDC, Maj Gen. Paul Tarfa (rtd) led members of the board and the management team to pay a sympathy visit to the Governor of Borno State over the flood incident in the state.
Speaking during the visit, the managing director of the NEDC, Mohammed Alkali, said the board made some critical resolutions on how it can intervene in Borno State due to what happened.
He said the first point of the resolution dealt with how small businesses that are mostly affected can be assisted, adding that a look at Borno State showed that most of the people affected are small businesses or people who depend on stipends.
“After the review, the board approved that N3 billion be released to the Borno government for distribution to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small businesses affected by the flood.
“The board also decided that the Commission should be fully involved in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of affected facilities in the supply of construction materials such as zinc and wood, among others. Repairs of damaged infrastructures, roads, and bridges, among others. The commission also handles issues like fumigation of the city and issues of sanitation, health, water and hygiene.
“So once the entire assessment is done, and the report is out, the Commission will get involved along with other partners to assist Borno in those areas, as the case may be. Also, regarding immediate support, because people have lost whatever they have, the board directed that we provide 20,000 bags of 25kg of rice, 20,000 cartons of macaroni and 10,000 cartons of vegetable oil.
Earlier, the chairman of the board of NEDC, Maj. Gen Paul Tarfa (rtd) prayed that such an incident in Borno State should never happen again, even in other parts of the country.
He said, “We are all together on this issue. To say we are here to commiserate with you is not the right thing, but to commiserate with all of us. We saw what happened, heard, felt, and are still dealing with it. So we are very sorry, your Excellency, and pray that God will give you the wisdom and strength to face the situation.
“Even though this has happened, there will still be lessons to learn from what happened. What is it that has happened? What is it that we have to learn now.,” he said.
In his remarks, Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum thanked the Commission for sympathising with him. He urged NEDC to be more visible in discharging its responsibility to the people of Borno, especially the flood victims.
He recalled the numerous projects the commission has executed in the state. He said that the most important thing is to ensure that before the commission’s tenure ends, the state government and the commission can plan and work together.
