Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has personally donated N5 million to support the Zumunta Association USA Inc, as the association distributes N9 million to 18 Non-Governmental Organisations drawn from across twelve states of the country.
Governor Sule gave the donation while speaking as a former president of the Zumunta Association USA Inc, an umbrella association for Northern Nigerians living in the USA, at the National Press Centre, Radio House, Abuja, recently.
Tracing the history of the association back to its formation in 1995, the governor commended past leaders and present leaders of the Zumunta Association USA Inc, for sustaining the initial spirit behind the formation of the association.
He recalled how as the president of the association in 1997, he led a team that came to the Arewa House and set up the first computer learning centre, donating 83 computers at a time computers were not too common.
Engineer Sule commended members of the association for their sacrifices, aimed at giving back to Nigeria, their home country.
“And a lot of people make the sacrifices in order for us to get there.
“We have people who are working hard in the US to earn a living and these people came together, not everybody was born with a silver spoon, people work very hard some teachers, nurses and yet got together and start raising money to give scholarship to those back home,” he recalled.
According to him, it’s not the amount being raised and distributed but the thinking, vision and courage to do something like this.
While appreciating the president of the association for sustaining the founding spirit of the Zumunta Association USA Inc, the governor announced a personal donation of N5m.
Speaking at the event, Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, thanked members of the association for their humanitarian gesture, aimed at reducing poverty.
The minister said the federal government will spare no stone in creating enabling environment that will protect and support its citizens in the diaspora to excel in their various callings.
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On her part, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians In Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said Nigerians in diaspora are integral part of the development of the country.
She commended the Zumunta Association USA Inc for their gesture, promising to propagate the activities of the association for others to emulate.
Earlier, National President of the Zumunta Association USA Inc, Philip Moses, said being the second phase of the association’s benevolent palliative project, 18 NGOs drawn from across 12 states of Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Kaduna, Kwara, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa, Lagos, Taraba and of course the FCT, will each receive N500, 000 as palliative.
