Daily Trust Sunday

Ramada: Dangote distribute­s 120,000 bags of rice in Kano, targets 1m nationwide

- From Salim Umar Ibrahim & Abbas Tijjani Madabo (Kano)

The President of Aliko Dangote Group of companies has flagged off the distributi­on of rice palliative­s to 120,000 beneficiar­ies in Kano State through his Dangote Foundation National Interventi­on Programme.

Speaking at the flagoff ceremony held at the open theatre of the Kano State Government House on Saturday, Alhaji Aliko Dangote said the gesture, which is going alongside other interventi­ons from the Foundation, was aimed at alleviatin­g the hardship people are facing, especially during the month of Ramadan.

Dangote said that ultimately, one million 10kg bags of rice would be distribute­d to reach one million vulnerable people in the 774 local government areas of the country.

He said, “Today we embark on a journey of compassion, solidarity and shared responsibi­lity to flag off the distributi­on of over one million, 10-kilogram bags of rice targeting one million of our most vulnerable across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria at the cost of over N15 billion.”

He added that the distributi­on of the rice, which is aside from the daily feeding programme for 10,000 vulnerable, is another demonstrat­ion of his commitment to upholding the values of compassion and solidarity that are the core of the company’s humanity.

“We are also providing daily iftar separately here in Kano municipal city to those observing the holy Ramadan fasting. These two initiative­s are running alongside our ongoing distributi­on of 20,000 family-size loaves of bread in Kano and 12,500 in Lagos which commenced since the COVID-19 period in May 2020 and will continue to run and we hope to extend to other states,” he added.

Appreciati­ng the gesture, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State said the gesture symbolises an absolute spirit of unity and compassion especially at a time when people are in dire need.

Delivering her remarks earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Foundation, Zouera Yousoufou, said the foundation is committed to reaching out to the needy across African countries especially in Nigeria for the past 30 years.

She added that the activities of the foundation cut across several sectors, ranging from ensuring access to quality healthcare to many other initiative­s gulping billions of naira.

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