The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has commenced the distribution of food items donated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) to 1,750 vulnerable households in Jigawa.

Zubaida Umar, director-general of NEMA, said during the inauguration of the distribution on Saturday in Hadejia that it was to support the vulnerable citizens and cushion the economic downturn.

The leadership of the Saudi Arabia-based KSrelief has been providing humanitarian aid and relief to those in need outside the Kingdom’s borders.

Represented by the director of special duties, Fatima Kassim, Ms Umar said that the donation of the food was timely, as it coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.

She said, “Each household will get a total of 59.8kg of food items, including rice (25kg), beans (25kg), masa vita flour (4kg), tomato paste (2kg), vegetable oil (2 litres), seasoning cubes (0.8kg) and salt (1 kg).”

Ms Umar urged the beneficiaries to make good use of the items to give succour to their families.

She added, “The humanitarian footprints of KSRelief had impacted several disaster hot spots in Nigeria affected by land-use conflicts, communal crisis and banditry.”

Ms Umar commended Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, and the Prime Minister, Mohammad Bin Salman, for their support on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.

On his part, Haruna Mairiga, executive secretary, SEMA, Jigawa, said, “This show of compassion has confirmed the long historical and brotherhood relationship that exists between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.”

He also commended NEMA for the collaborative effort with the agency and urged the beneficiaries to use the items judiciously.

The Emir of Hadejia, Adamu Abubakar, commended King Salman and KSrelief for the gesture, saying that it came at the right time due to the economic hardship being experienced.

He urged the beneficiaries to extend their love to others around them by sharing what was given to them, especially in this hard time.

(NAN)