• Gov. Alia (right), Edu (left) and others at the event
Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for fulfilling some of the promises made to the people of the state during his electioneering. He spoke during visit of Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, in Makurdi.
The minister was in Benue for the ground breaking of the renewed hope shelter for the poor and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as well as distribution of items to the IDPs in eight local government areas.
He told the minister: “Please convey my appreciation on behalf of the government and people of Benue state to Mr President for fulfilling the promise made to provide permanent homes for IDPs in Benue State and provide for their livelihood.
“We are happy as a people and we appreciate Mr President for this gesture. I also thank President Tinubu for appointing a quintessentially young and vibrant minister to take charge of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. She’s doing extremely well. We commend her and her team for a good job.”
Tor Markudi, Chief Vincent Awure, who spoke on behalf of royal fathers, said: “Before the coming of President Tinubu, several communities in the state, including Tatyo and Kyo in Markudi North Local Government never knew a day would come when life would be brought back to the communities devastated by herders and bandits attacks.
“We have lost many lives and livelihoods, a development that rendered millions of households homeless, hence their present status as IDPs. With life now brought back to the communities by the federal and Benue State governments, is phenomenal and they were willing to donate more land for developmental projects.
“On behalf of my kingdom, we appreciate President Tinubu for this gesture and thank the minister, my daughter, Dr Betta Edu, for her vision to address humanitarian challenges in Nigeria. I have been watching her and her passion for humanitarian response from a distance, she is simply unmatched.”
Earlier, Edu commended Alia, traditional rulers and the people of Benue: “We want to be able to provide durable solutions to those who have already been affected by this humanitarian crises. Beyond this, we have already picked some markets in the state where we will be carrying out the market money scheme. This scheme is a soft loan, a zero-interest loan to market women.
“The market women will be registered right there in the markets and the loans provided for them there to support their businesses. We believe it will help the local economy to thrive.
“There are several other government interventions including the End Hunger, Code Nigeria, and YESSO 2.0 programme for young people, that we would be bringing to Benue State.
“The essence is to see that we can first pull those who are in poverty out of poverty and prevent those who are at the borderline, just at the edge of it from falling into poverty.”