TheCable

The women’s campaign team of the All Progressives Congress (APC)  has donated relief materials to flood victims in Benue state. 

The relief materials, including the sum of N10 million for 200 families, were donated on Monday.

Oluremi Tinubu, leader of the delegation, and other members of the team were received in the government house by Samuel Ortom, governor of the state.

Oluremi, who is the wife of Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, said the relief materials were intended to cushion the hardship caused by the flood.

She said the N10 million cash donation will support 200 individuals in small-scale businesses.

“You can give people food — but you are only feeding them for a day or two or a week,” she said.

“We believe that if N50, 000 is given to about 200 families it will go a long way. They can really find something to be doing. Just sitting down and waiting for the next meal to come is not what they should be doing.”

Hyacinth Alia, the APC governorship candidate in Benue, said the donations will not be limited to supporters of the APC.

“The visit is not only for the APC victims, it is for all those who are victimised by the flood in the state,” Alia said.

In his remarks, Ortom thanked the team for identifying with the flood victims, saying the residents will continue to co-exist irrespective of their political differences.

The 2022 flooding is said to be the worst in decades, and over 600 deaths have been recorded, while millions of persons have been displaced.

Currently, the floods have affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country with Benue, Kogi, Bayelsa, Delta, Anambra, and Kano being the worst hit.

On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari issued a 90-day ultimatum to Suleiman Adamu, minister of water resources, to work with the ministries of environment and transportation to develop an action plan for flood prevention.

Last week, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said 2.5 million people in Nigeria need humanitarian assistance — out of which more than 1.5 million children are at risk of waterborne diseases, malnutrition and drowning due to the recent floods.