Danjuma, Dangote In North East Rehabilitation Committee

SAN FRANCISCO, January 01, (THEWILL) – Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, will be a member of the committee saddled with responsibility of rehabilitating infrastructure, and resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East, Nigeria.

This was announced by the Nigerian President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, in Abuja on Friday in an audience with Women In Politics Forum (WIPF), where he revealed that the committee would be headed by retired Gen. T. Y. Danjuma.

Buhari announced that all forms of assistance and aid generated locally and from foreign countries as promised by the G7 industrialised nations would be channelled through the committee which will soon be inaugurated.

He said that he had compiled a list of damaged infrastructure, including schools and bridges and handed it to the leaders of the G7 and the U.S.

“I didn’t ask for a Kobo (in cash). It is up to them to choose what they will undertake.”

“Already, some of them have sent teams to verify our assertions,” he said.

The president decried the impact of the Boko Haram violence on women and children, declaring that they were its worst victims.

“In the North-East, what I saw for myself and on those clips is a source of concern for people with conscience.”

“They are mostly women and children, who are orphaned. Some of them don’t even know where they come from. This is the pathetic situation in which the country has found itself.”

Buhari also revealed that the fight for the return of the Chibok girls was ongoing and “continues to be a most worrying issue” to his government.

He, however, emphasised that the administration would do all within its powers in making efforts to secure their freedom.

President Buhari has assured that women would fare well in the composition of parastatal agencies and their boards in the first quarter of this year.

Spokesperson of the WIPF, Mrs Ebere Ifendu in her remarks called on the government to usher in laws to promote gender equity as well as action toward the implementation of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act.

The president, who had been criticized for having a low percentage of women in all appointments made thus far, acknowledged the case made by the WIPF for better representation of women in his government.

He also defended the records of the administration in response to criticism that it was slow, saying that steps must be taken with caution to avoid mistakes.

“People say we are slow. We are trying to change structures put in place by our predecessors in office for 16 years. If we hurry it, we will make mistakes. That will be a disaster,” he said.

According to Buhari, the country has a budget proposal for the New Year that is good for employment and manufacturing.

He reassured that by the end of the second quarter of the year, the positive impacts of the budget would be felt across the country.

NAN reports that the WIPF, comprising women leaders from 26 political parties, made the record of being the first organisation to be received by the President in the New Year.