Wife of the Bauchi State Governor, Hajia Hadiza Mohammed Abdulahi Abubakar, and founder of the Sustainable Women Economic Empowerment and Peace Initiative (BSWEEP) has urged Nigerians to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) affected by the Boko Haram crisis in the North East geo-political zone of the country.
Hadiza Abubakar made the appeal while presenting food items to IDPs at the Development Exchange Centre (DEC), Bauchi saying that the gesture was part of efforts to give the IDPs a sense of belonging and called for concerted steps to be taken to integrate them into the society.
According to her, government alone cannot be left to handle the issues of IDPs and the less privileged individuals in the society and called on well to do people, well meaning individuals and organisations to assist the IDPs and the less privileged.
“It is against this background that I decided to establish BSWEEP. The NGO has embarked on advocacy visits to all the 20 Local Government Areas in the state to see things for itself and device ways to assist the needy such as women, vulnerable children, and to enlighten the people of the state on its existence and operations,” she stated.
The Governor’s wife said that the aim of BSWEEP is to raise awareness of the people of the state especially philanthropic, corporate bodies and individuals to come to the aide of “the less privileged and vulnerable persons in our midst.”
In his address, the Permanent Secretary of the Bauchi State Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Aliyu Abba Ahmed, told the Governor’s wife that, “all the Internally Displaced Persons who are mostly women and children are staying with relatives and friends.”
He commended the wife of the governor for coming to the IDPs’ aid by donating the essentials to them, saying that “the state Government alone cannot satisfy them” and appealed to other Non-Governmental Organizations to contribute so as to reduce the hardship being encountered by the displaced.
Speaking also at the presentation, one of the state’s Amira, Hajiya Zainab told the women and children not to consider their present predicament as a punishment from God, and lose faith in Him, but take it as a test of their faith and Praise Allah for what He has done.
According to her,”You must always pray for peace and pray for the souls of those that are dead” and she also quoted various verses from the Quaran enjoining the children to remain obedient to their parents.
