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Jelili A Opadijo
Doha
President of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, Qatar (NIDO-Qatar), Victor Ikoli has described the Eid Al-Fitr food parcels distributed by Qatar to 17 expatriate communities as a timely gesture that brought a great succour to many members of the communities.
Ikoli said the joint initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MDLSA), Qatar Charity and Ooredoo provided 50,000 food packages to various communities, among which Nigerians received 1,000 parcels.
Ikoli thanked the government of Qatar, through the ministries and other agencies, for making Eid Al-Fitr celebration during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic a joyous one for the needy
expatriates.
“On behalf of the Nigerian expatriates and other benefiting communities, I say a big thank you to Qatar and the coordinating ministries and agencies for this wonderful gesture. The impacts of this donation is invaluable and we are deeply indebted to Qatar for the unforgettable assistance at this trying times,” he said.
Ikoli said he was surprised by the number of people he met at the Embassy of Nigeria in West Bay area on Thursday, May 21, 2020, the day of the distribution, despite the short notice sent to the beneficiaries.
“We sent message out on Wednesday evening to the interested individuals to come to the embassy by 1:30pm on Thursday. To my amazement, many people were already at the embassy before the time we told them to come, even before the food packages arrived at the embassy. I was so touched to see them eagerly waiting to receive their rations. That showed that the food donation came at the right time for them,” he said.
The NIDO-Qatar president also thanked the officials of the embassy for their cooperation and coordination for the smooth distribution of the items despite the large turnout of the people.
Lateef Ajibade, NIDO-Qatar secretary, who was on ground to coordinate the distribution, said the quantity of the food parcels (1,000) given to the community enabled the organisation to reach so many people, including those who could not come to the embassy.
“We knew that there were some people who needed the items but could not come to collect them because they couldn’t afford the transport fares. To enable such people to benefit, some executive members and others who have vehicles volunteered to deliver the items to those people at their respective residences,” Ajibade said.
Emeka, one of the beneficiaries who could not hide his joy, said: “I don’t know how to thank the donors enough. This is the second time within the span of one month that I benefit from this kind of gesture from Qatar. The first one was the palliative packages distributed by Qatar Charity in late April. And now this one from the ministries and Qatar Charity. May God continue to bless Qatar and its generous donors.”
Rasheedah, another recipient, said she was even happier because she also received a beautiful toy for her baby.
Each food package contained rice, lentil, cooking oil, wheat flour, tea, sugar, salt and powdered chilli pepper.
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27/05/2020
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