Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has donated gift items worth millions of Naira to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Gombe State during the Christmas holiday.

A statement by his media adviser, Uche Anichukwu stated that the Senator and his wife, Lady Nwanneka Ekweremadu, also feted 250 widows from Enugu during the period.

The statement indicated that Ekweremadu was represented at the presentation to IDPs in Borno and Yobe States by his Special Assistant on Political Matters and former Chairman of Conference of State Legislators of Nigeria, Rt. Hon. Inuwa Garba.

The lawmaker assured the IDPs that the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari administration were working hand-in-hand to totally end insurgency so that they could return to their homes to resume their normal lives.

The statement quoted him as saying: “But until we achieve that, you deserve all the support the government, kind-spirited Nigerians, and the international community can offer to ameliorate your challenges and put smiles on your faces.”

According to the statement, Ekweremadu, who was represented at another batch of presentation in Gombe State by the Senator representing Gombe South District, Senator Joshua Lidani, enjoined the IDPs not to lose hope.

Ekweremadu said: “This is not the end of the road for you. This darkness of insurgency is but for a while. The light of total victory will surely shine upon the nation. I also believe that from among the children here will emerge highly successful people, future presidents, governors, captains of industry, service chiefs, among others.”

The statement quoted the Chairman of IDPs from Borno and Yobe States, Alhaji Abba Jatau Danbuwa, and the Chairman of IDPs from Adamawa State, who are residing in Southern Gombe State, Mr. Michael Ntebuwa, as expressing profound gratitude to Ekweremadu for consistently reaching out to Nigerians in various IDP camps in the North East.

At the Enugu end of the presentations, the statement indicated that Ekweremadu and his wife hosted the 2017 edition of “Christmas with Widows,” with about 250 people in attendance.

The widows drawn the five Local Government Areas of Enugu West Senatorial District, who smiled home with gifts of N10,000 cash, a bag of rice, and wrappers.

Lady Ekweremadu explained that the programme had been part of the family’s tradition since 1997.

The Deputy Senate President further said: “I grew up in a system with an in-built social security policy where we were our brother’s keeper and catered to one another’s needs.

“If you didn’t have yam, you shared from that of your neighbour without shame. When somebody secured admission into university, the community contributed money to ensure that the person got education. In fact, it was a society in which anybody’s problem was everybody’s problem.

“So today, especially in the absence of a formal social security system, it is important that we ensure that everybody counts; that everybody enjoys the good things of life; and that whatever God has given to any of us, we share with the rest of the community to generate happiness and help secure our system.”

Update news