Ahead of Ramadhan, the Abubakr Al-Sidiq Philanthropic home of King Salman Humanitarian Aid/Relief Centre of Saudi Arabia, has commenced distribution of 138 tonnes of assorted food items to 13, 800 most vulnerable Nigerians.
Distribution of the food items under the auspices of Eta’am Food Basket, was flagged off in Abuja Saturday with recitation from the glorious Quran by Mallam Hafiz Isah Abdullah.
Speaking at the event, the President of Abubakr Al-Sidiq Philanthropic home of King Salman, Mallam Abdulrazaq Ibrahim Salman, lamented that millions of Nigerians across religious and ethnic divides have been thrown under the burden of high food prices and general food security.
Mallam Salman, who was represented by Vice President Special Duties, Hajia Fatimah Gada, noted that regardless of the causes of this humongous problem, it is quite obvious that something needs to be done fast to curtail further increase of the ugly indices.
He said: “We at Abibakr As-Sidiq Philanthropic Home are humbled to be considered as the ’Implementing Partner’ for this immensely impactful project which will touch the lives of 13,800 of the most vulnerable Nigerians.
“We want to acknowledge KSRelief for funding this project while using this medium to reach out to other well-meaning international and local organisations to join hands with us in various areas of humanitarian efforts to contribute to the global drive to improve the lives of the less-privileged in our societies”.
He also appreciated the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre for providing 138 tonnes of relief items including rice, beans, semovita, salt, vegetable oil, and Maggi.
According to him, each food basket is projected to feed a family of 6 for at least 15 days.
In his remarks, the Deputy Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Faisal bin Ibrahim Alghamdi, disclosed that over the past six years, the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the Salman Center has spent more than $5 billion on 1990 projects.
These projects he explained, were in 79 countries in the areas of food security, health monitoring, emergency relief coordination, water sanitation and hygiene, education protection, emergency communication and charitable assistance among others.
He disclosed that, in Nigeria, the King Salman Center has executed various projects at the cost of $14.6 million in the areas of food security, health early recovery and education within the same period.
“It is worthy to note that within the framework to assist internally displaced persons (IDP) In Borno, Yobe and Zamfara state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the King Salman centre distributed food and release materials in those states at the cost of $10 million between 2018 and 2021”, he said.
He disclosed that the king Salman centre plans to expand the scope of its medical campaign to reach wider parts of the country this year just as he assured that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would continue to render this monetary relief and assistance whenever and wherever is needed or necessary.
The Eta’am food basket distribution was flagged off with the presentation of the food basket to beneficiaries.
Those present are Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Hon. Tunji Olawuyi Ajuloopin, Grand Khadi of Kwara State Justice Abdullateef Kamaldeen and Grand Khadi of Niger State, Abubakar Musa Mohammed Kigera among others.