Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Dr Betta Edu, has marked her 40th birthday with a humanitarian outreach to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ichwa IDP Camp, Makurdi, Benue State.
The intervention featured medical services, livelihood support, educational assistance and the distribution of food and non-food items to vulnerable families.
According to the organisers, the programme included healthcare services for more than 10,000 people across various camps in the state, business start-up grants, vocational equipment, scholarships for schoolchildren and relief materials.
Speaking with journalists during the outreach, Edu said her decision to spend her birthday with displaced families was motivated by gratitude to God and a commitment to humanitarian service rather than political considerations.
She recalled visiting Benue in 2023 and interacting with displaced residents, saying the experience strengthened her resolve to support efforts to improve their living conditions and restore their livelihoods.
“Today, I am in Benue because it is my birthday. I am here to reach out to thousands of people in IDP camps across the state. This is my passion and my covenant with God and humanity,” she said.
The intervention included the distribution of equipment intended to help beneficiaries establish or revive small businesses.
Items provided included sewing machines, grinding machines, hairdressing kits, mobile hair-washing equipment and deep freezers.
The programme also featured 40 business start-up grants, 40,000 academic scholarships to be provided over 10 years, vocational training opportunities, 40 sewing machines, 40 grinding machines, 40 deep freezers, 40 mobile hair-washing kits and 4,000 wrappers.
Edu said the educational support was designed to help children from displaced families access schooling, while food and essential items would provide immediate relief to households facing difficult conditions.
She stressed that humanitarian support should go beyond the distribution of relief materials to include sustainable interventions that enable displaced persons to become economically self-reliant.
According to her, the ultimate goal should be to help displaced families return safely to their ancestral communities and achieve permanent resettlement.
“The real idea is to ensure that we can pull them out of here back to their ancestral homes and permanently settle so they can be productive and support Nigeria with food,” she said.
Edu, who also serves as Co-Director of the Directorate of Women Mobilisation of the APC Presidential Campaign Council, said the intervention was intended to complement ongoing efforts by the Federal Government, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu and the Benue State Government led by Governor Hyacinth Alia.
She acknowledged the contributions of government institutions and international partners to humanitarian assistance but called for stronger collaboration to develop lasting solutions to displacement.
She also urged international organisations, development partners and individuals to work with the Benue State Government to address the humanitarian challenges facing displaced communities.
Some residents and youths in surrounding communities also benefited from the outreach.
The event ended with prayers and goodwill messages from beneficiaries, who expressed appreciation for the assistance and called for sustained support for displaced persons in the state.
