Nigeria’s Borno State has confirmed receipt of a cash donation of $1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The funds are meant to support victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in the north eastern state.
The state governor, Kashim Shettima made the disclosure over the weekend while distributing food items and farm inputs to victims of the insurgency.
“We are gathered here today to commence distribution of a key intervention of one million U.S. dollars food and farming aid donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,’’ Shettima is quoted by local media to have said.
“We are grateful to God for creating people like Mr Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. These leading lights of philanthropy across the world have shown love to the good people of Borno”
According to him, about 40,000 households were targeted to benefit from the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts. Each household were to get a bag of rice and beans each.
He further disclosed that some 200 farm-families were also going to be handed land with incentives like improved seeds, fertilizer, chemicals and technical supervision to grow food crops.
“We are grateful to God for creating people like Mr Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. These leading lights of philanthropy across the world have shown love to the good people of Borno at a time we are on the ground and looking for any hand to hold in trying to lift ourselves up,’‘ he said.