By Eyo Nsima
The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has commenced the disbursement of a hundred thousand naira (N100,000) and Dignity Packs to each of the Nigerian returnees from Sudan.
The money and the Dignity Packs were given out to the evacuees upon arrival at the airport in Abuja yesterday. All the evacuees, irrespective of the number, will be given the sum of N100,000 and Dignity Packs each, by the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), once they step into the country.
Speaking in Abuja soon after the arrival of the returnees, a representative of the Foundation, Maryam Buhari-Shehu, said the Board of Trustees of the Foundation has resolved to be fully involved in the evacuation and resettling of thousands of Nigerians that were stranded in Sudan.
She said a total of 362 returnees including children were registered by the ADF for the exercise on the first day. Three hundred and fifty (350) received the support.
According to her, the intervention was in collaboration with the Federal Government through its agency, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and Air Peace to provide succour to the returnees.
Mrs. Buhari-Shehu, who was representing the Managing Director of the ADF, Zouera Youssoufou, noted that ADF will continue to support the government in its humanitarian effort.
One of the returnee students and a beneficiary of the ADF donation, Mr. Yusuf Bulama, said: “First and foremost, I want to thank Allah for bringing us back home safely. Second, I want to thank Alhaji Aliko
Dangote for this huge intervention through the Aliko Dangote Foundation. My message to Dangote is to pray that Allah continues to help him and support his numerous businesses.”
Another beneficiary of the ADF’s donation, Miss Muneerah Abdul expressed appreciation while adding that N100, 000.00 for each student was a huge sum. She prayed to Allah to continue to bless Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
It would be recalled that Aliko Dangote Foundation supported the Nigerian government with logistics support for the Nigerian volunteer health workers who supported the Ebola containment efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone upon their return to the country in 2015. Also, during the recent Covid pandemic, ADF supported the return of Nigerians from India and Dubai during the outbreak of the pandemic with specially chartered flights and Covid testing and quarantining when they arrived back in Nigeria.
Since 2011, ADF has supported several thousand IDPs in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, and Abuja with a total spending of over 25 billion naira in the provision of food, shelter, and health services.
