Sheikh Abdul-Razaq Salman, president of Abikakr As-Sidiq Philantrophic Home (ASPH), has called on International and local organisations to engaged in humanitarian effort for the well-being of vulnerable people.
Salman at the inauguration ceremony of the Eta’am Food Baskets project 2022 on Saturday in Abuja said humanitarian work would help to improve the lives of the less privileged in the society.
Salman, represented by Hajia Fatimah Yunus-Gada, Vice president, Special Duties, said that millions of Nigerians across religious and ethnic divide were burdened by high food prices and food insecurity.
The president stressed that regardless of the cause of the problem it was obvious that something needed to be done to address the situation.
“We at ASPH are humbled to be considered as the ‘Implementing Partner’ for this immensely impactful project, which will touch the lives of 13,800 of vulnerable Nigerians.
“We want to acknowledge King Salman Relief for funding this project, while using this medium to reach out to other well-meaning international and local organisations to join hands with us,’ he said.
ASPH president appreciated King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre for providing 138 tonnes of relief items, which include rice, beans, semovita, salt, vegetable oil, maggi.
According to him, each food basket is projected to feed a family of six for at least 15 days.
“Overtime, relief centre has been actively present in Nigeria and has impacted the lives of thousands of Nigerians, especially in the North-Eastern part of the country through various programmes.
He mentioned the programmes to include, medical outreach and food relief to Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) camps in Yobe and other states.
“This project shows that relief is committed to humanitarian aid around the world,” he added.
Speaking earlier, Deputy Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Faisal bin Ibrahim Al-Ghamdi, said the country had spent over five billion dollars in six years in 79 countries.
Al-Ghamdi said that the money was spent in the areas of food security, health monitoring, and emergency relief.
He said that it also spent money in the area of coordination of water sanitation and hygiene, education protection, emergency communication and charitable assistance, among others.
“In Nigeria, the King Salman Centre has executed project at the cost of 14.6 million dollars in the areas of food security, health early recovery and education within the same period.
“It is worthy to note that it is within the framework that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Borno, Kogi and Zamfara were assisted.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the King Salman centre distributed food and relief materials in those states at the cost of 10 million dollars between 2018 and 2021.
“However, within the frame of medical assistant, the centre in collaboration with Alberta Foundation, has 11 Medical campaigns in some states of Nigeria on ICT, diseases, and heart surgery.
“This year, king Salman centre planned to expand the scope of its medical campaign to reach wider parts of the country,” he said.
He stressed that the impact of COVID-19 in Nigeria and its negative effects on health facilities in many countries called for urgent medical support and interventions.
The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) reports that ASPH is a non-governmental Organisation established in 1998 for the primary objective of giving hope to vulnerable Nigerians and West Africans.
The NGO aimed at improving the social well-being of all West Africans regardless of their religious or political affiliation.( NAN)