NEMA DG: WE ARE YET TO RECEIVE USAID $1M
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed said the agency did not receive any $1million donation from the Agency for International Development (USAID), for the support of flood victims in 2022.
The NEMA DG stated this while responding to journalists about the funds promised and widely celebrated in 2022.
The US embassy in October last year in a statement by the Ambassador, Mary Beth Leonard had announced the donation.
The US had explained that the unusual heavy rainfall, which resulted in flooding, had affected nearly 2.8 million people across the country.
It added that many homes had been damaged or completely destroyed, displacing millions of persons.
The US government stressed that the $1 million in new USAID support would allow local partners on the ground to provide emergency shelter assistance, relief commodities, and hygiene kits to promote safe and healthy practices amid the on-going cholera outbreak and multipurpose cash assistance for people affected by the devastating floods.
Part of the statement stated, “The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing $1 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to support the people affected by unprecedented flooding in Nigeria.”
However, after over 10 months now, NEMA, the lead agency in humanitarian response, is yet to get the donation.
According to the DG NEMA, “I also read about the story in the papers last year but I can confirm that we have not received any $1million from USAID.”
Meanwhile, the director-general of NEMA Ahmed has also assured Zamfara State of the readiness of the agency to assist in addressing the humanitarian problems caused by bandits and terrorists attacks.
He stated this when the governor of Zamfara, Dr Dauda Lawal visited him at the headquarters of NEMA on Friday.
He said: “First I commend the governor to appreciate NEMA for the interventions and I assure you that Zamfara will get all the assistant they need just like other states of the federation.”
Earlier, the Zamfara governor had said he was at the NEMA headquarters to seek assistance with the Internally Displaced Persons resulting from several bandit attacks in the state.