By Elizabeth Chukwuma
The Ekiti State Government has said the decision of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ,NIMASA, to support the needy and victims of disaster in the state is a significant relief to the state government in its continuous effort to cushion the adverse effect of natural and man-made tragedies on the people.
Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, the deputy governor, who had represented the governor, and who have had received the relief materials from the NIMASA, delegation had said on Tuesday, August 17, 2021, in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital ,that the humanitarian materials would be distributed to the those suffering severe economic conditions, especially Internally Displaced Persons ,IDPs.
Recalling some recent incidents in the state, including communal clashes, flooding, and fire disasters, which had resulted in the displacement of communities, Egbeyemi , had said that, “he state government had intervened in some areas within its capacity, but due to inadequate resources, there are still some affected victims that have not been attended to’. It is not surprising why he is very Appreciative to Barshir Jamoh, the Director General, NIMASA and Management, for the provision of the relief materials.
Mrs. Ronke Thomas, the agency Director, Administration and Human Resources, who had represented, Jamoh, Director General at the presentation of the relief materials to Ekiti state government had said the economic relief and empowerment gesture was a Corporate Social Responsibility ,CSR, initiative that was expanded to cover the 36 states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.“Jamoh is doing something that had not been done to this magnitude before,”, she had said.
She was said to have further said, “We are on a mission to reach out and help people in the face of daunting socio-economic circumstances, often outstripping government’s official planning, and requiring extra-governmental mitigation measures and intervention from organisations and individuals’’
She further said ,we are here to succour the distressed, strengthen the weak, and encourage the discouraged. We want all to feel at home, especially those who have been physically displaced or emotionally hurt by natural and man-made disasters.”
.In an emotional outburst, the NIMASA, Director had made clear to the Ekiti state , governor, that the agency empathise with Nigerians going through difficult conditions’’, and have decided’’ to create awareness about the dire conditions of the less privileged citizens, as well as draw people’s attention – at the individual Organisational and governmental levels – on the need to continually lend the underprivileged a helping hand.”
Accordng to her, “The event is a strategic demonstration of the Agency’s commitment to a better life for all Nigerians’’. She stated that the Agency had integrated support for the less privileged and capacity building for citizens into a national CSR strategy regularly implemented according to the availability of resources.
She called on privileged Nigerians to take a cue from NIMASA and “get involved in activities that support the lives of the underprivileged”.
The Agency was said to have donated food stuff, household items, educational materials, and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, SMEs, support tools to ameliorate the plight of the less privileged. They included computers, books, sewing machines, grinding machines, welding machines, hair clippers and barbing accessories, vulcanising machines, motorbikes, and tricycle. Jamoh, the NIMASA, Chief Executive officer , may have won the heart of Egbeyemi, the Ekiti state deputy state dputy governor for remembering the needy in the state with the provision of the relief materials.
