Dangote c’ttee blows hot

[PeoplesDaily]

By Aminu Imam

Six months after some prominent Nigerians made financial pledges at the Special Appeal Fund for victims of the 2012 flood disaster across the country before President Goodluck Jonathan, such pledges are yet to be redeemed by some of them, investigations have revealed.

A Presidential Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, co-chaired by business mogul, Aliko Dangote and frontline lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, which put the fund-raising together has therefore read the riot act to the defaulters, threatening to publish their names should they fail to remit their pledge on or before June 30, 2013.

The 34-man Presidential Committee, targeting a sum of N100 billion, held a fund-raising dinner at the Presidential Villa, during which donations and pledges made by prominent Nigerians amounted to N11.35 billion.

Some of those who pledged but are yet to redeem it have gone ahead to enjoy the tax incentives attached to their pledges. Advising the defaulters to respect themselves and maintain their honour and integrity, the Committee vowed that it would expose those who have not turned in their cheques by publishing their names in the national dailies in the next three weeks.

Dangote and the Federal Government topped the chart with the donation of N2. 5 billion apiece, while Chairman of Visafone, Jim Ovia and Chairman, Heirs Holdings Co. Ltd, Tony Elumelu followed suit with N1 billion each.

Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke and her telecommunication counterpart, Omobola Johnson had pledged to mobilize the Indigenous Oil Companies (IOCs) and other telecommunications firms, who were invited but were conspicuously absent at the dinner, to respond to the donation.

To motivate and encourage the audience to donate bountifully, President Jonathan had announced tax incentives for all corporate organizations that would donate into the Flood Relief Fund meant to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians who were affected by flooding in the country that year.

Obviously miffed at the continuous refusal of the pledge makers to redeem them, even when the Committee is about to move to the next stage of its assignment, which is to implement the rehabilitation of the victims, the Committee therefore, decided to make the appeal open.

A statement issued by the Committee in Lagos and signed by the co-chairmen said it would publish the names of pledge defaulters in the newspapers and other social media blogs if by June 30 they refused to redeem their promise.

The statement, titled: "Public Notice: Redemption of Pledges" read in part: "The Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation expresses its profound gratitude and appreciation to all who answered the clarion call to be our brothers' keepers through their generous donations and pledges at its Fund Raising Dinner in November 2012 for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims in Nigeria. We thank you immensely.

"As we proceed to the implementation stage of the planned rehabilitation projects, we hereby call on all those who have not redeemed their pledges to please do so on or before June 30, 2013, as a mark of honour and integrity as names of defaulters will be announced in all national dailies and social media blogs.

Once again we thank you and look forward to receiving the proceeds of all pledges made."

Meanwhile preparatory to the fund raiser, the committee had divided itself into groups and visited the victims in all the states affected by the flood to ascertain the level of destruction and distortion to the victims as well as the destabilization of their farming and aquatic endeavors.

It could be recalled that the nation witnessed the worst-ever flood disaster in the fourth quarter of last year when flood swept through many states putting millions of Nigerians in danger as 59 communities were reportedly sacked, 38, 228 displaced and about 160 people feared dead.

The President undertook a tour of some of the affected areas and promised that government would help them in the provision of reliefs and rehabilitation.

Also, the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, went round some of the affected states and made a personal donation of N430 million, through his Dangote Foundation.

He had earlier made a donation of N50 million each to Lagos and Oyo states, to assist in the rehabilitation efforts after flood in the two states rendered many homeless and with their properties running into several billion of naira destroyed.

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