The Rotary Club, Central Business District (CBD), Abuja, on Saturday commissioned water project and distributed some food palliatives to residents of Gidan-Gimba Community in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the food items included rice, noodles, vegetable oil, tomatoes puree and salt.
Speaking during the commissioning and distribution of the food items, the District Governor of the club, Dr Victor Onukwugha, said that the gesture was part of the club’s continuous assistance to the people and in support of government’s efforts to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“We are not going to support with water and palliatives alone, we have other areas of focus like education and little skills, maternal and child healthcare, economic empowerment, water and sanitation, among others.”
Onukwugha said that the club had been assisting and collaborating with the Federal Government in the areas that were necessary.
“The water project and the palliatives were funded by the club members.
“We continue to do this and we will also extend some personal protective equipment to the frontline people helping with the intervention,” he said.
Onukwugha said that the rotary club’s palliatives had also been distributed in some other states.
He also said that the community was lucky to have been adopted by the club to help the people.
Distributing the materials, the President of the Club, Mrs Yelwa Abubakar, said the gesture was part of activities to reach out to the needy especially during this COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have come to assist families as a way to show our support and bring relief materials to them,” she said.
The president said that Rotarians had a passion for helping the less privileged, adding that the club had adopted the Gidan-Gimba community for over four years.
Abubakar also called on Nigerians to reach out to the vulnerable as a way of serving humanity.
The past Assistant Governor, Rotary Club of Abuja, Rotarian Evelyn Onyilo, said that part of their mandate was to impact on communities.
She sensitised the community members to the pandemic and advised them to always wash their hands with soap and water, maintain physical distancing, use hand sanitizer, among others.
“We have Rotary Community Corps that will also help in sensitising the community more.”
Alhaji Danjuma Audu, the Village Head of Gidan-Gimba, said the club members had done a lot for his community.
“We are grateful for the water project, we had no clean water before now as we drink from the stream.
“I will make sure we maintain the water well, also the palliative will help a lot of homes,” Audu said.
He said that they provided food, drugs among others for them and they were always happy whenever they visited.
Audi also advised other Nigerians to extend a hand of kindness to the less privileged in the society especially during this pandemic.
A resident of the community, Mrs Victoria Yakubu, who benefited from the palliatives, commended the club for its constant support and appealed to the government to build a primary healthcare centre in the community.