Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, has pledged N41 million to aid 41 indigenes evacuated from South Africa following xenophobic violence.
The governor said each returnee would be given N1 million within 24 hours to find lodging, adding that the state government would also provide soft loans for them to start businesses and reintegrate into the society.
Okpebholo announced this today when he received the returnees in the Festival Hall of the Government House in Benin City.
He said the funding was to enable the returnees to reconstruct their lives after losing their property during the attacks.
Your success starts now. Many of you have knowledge and abilities in various areas of expertise. Once you know what you want to do, come to us. “We will give you a soft loan in the beginning because we want you to fully reintegrate into society”, he stated.
And you will not be stranded, you will get that cash between now and tomorrow,” he added. “There’s no place like home.” No one will send you away from here. Here we have tranquillity. Edo is secure, Nigeria is secure. Geographic Reference
The governor urged the returnees to concentrate on reconstructing their lives, saying their survival was more important than the things they lost.
They might have taken everything from you yet your life is worth more than the things they took. As a government, we will always be with our people wherever they are.” “If they are in distress, we will rescue them and make sure they don’t experience such things again,” he stated.
Okpebholo also recalled the historical ties between Nigeria and South Africa, saying Nigerians in the past had backed South Africans and their enterprises, adding that Nigeria would not respond despite the attacks.
Riches Unubun, on behalf of the returnees, thanked the Edo State and federal governments for their evacuation. Reference Geographic
“When we are leaving here, we have a civic responsibility to appreciate what the Edo State Government has done for us. “They must take us to the place where we can register and collect our voter cards so that these great things happening in Edo will continue,” he remarked.
The Director-General, Edo State Migration Agency, Lucky Agazuma, hailed the governor for his support to Edo indigenes in distress in other African countries.
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