SAN FRANCISCO, March 24, (THEWILL) – The Government of Indonesia has offered to assist the Nigerian Government to the tune of one million dollars to rebuild the North-East region affected by insurgency.
This was disclosed by the Ambassador of Indonesia to Nigeria, Harry Purwanto, when he visited the Presidential Committee on North-East Initiative (PCNI), on Friday in Abuja.
Purwanto said the visit to the Committee was for the Indonesia government to know the actual situation on ground in the North-East and the areas in utmost need for intervention.
He said that after listening to the presentation from the PCNI, the Indonesian government would offer an assistance of one million dollars in kind to the committee, specifically for humanitarian assistance.
“We really see that there is a huge challenges faced by Nigerians with the crisis in the North-East.
“For now, the Indonesian government wants to focus on one thing, and that is, what would really save lives.
“We would focus on the humanitarian assistance, which is why we have come to this office to have a clear picture and update on the situation.
“Our humanitarian assistance is not huge, it is very modest and we hope it helps a lot.
“We pledge about 1 million dollars in kind and we would buy all we need from the local market to also help boost the Nigerian economy,” Purwanto said.
Purwanto said he would relay the outcome of the meeting to the Government of Indonesia for quick response.
Earlier, Tijjani Tumsah, Vice Chairman of PCNI expressed his appreciation to the Indonesian government for its interest to support the Nigerian Government in addressing the plights of the victims of insurgency.
He explained that the PCNI has adopted a five-year action plan for the reconstruction of the North-East but has picked out five priority areas for immediate response which are humanitarian assistance, education, health, security and revamping the agriculture sector.
Tumsah said the committee has also designed an assistance plan to over fifteen children who have been orphaned by the insurgency, training of widows and empowering them to start a trade.
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