Govt alone can’t do everything, says Aisha Bagudu as she empowers IDPs

The Mallpai Foundation has trained internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the New Kuchingoro camp in Abuja on how to repair phones and make soap.

Aisha Bagudu, founder of the foundation, disclosed this at a session with journalists in Abuja.

She said it is part of the efforts aimed at empowering them and making them financially independent.

She said there is no doubt the country is facing a lot of challenges and that the government alone can not solve all the problems, hence the need for the intervention of individuals and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

“If you can notice that in this country now, we have a lot of problems whether we say it or not. I’m talking as a founder of an NGO, as a human being, as a mother as well,” she said.

“We have a lot of challenges that we are facing in this country, so we decided to do something to help the youth and the women as well. We want to train them, not the usual outreach that we give them and go away.

“What can we do to impact their lives? We should train them, let them have skills, something different from the usual outreach. That is why we are training them now, after that we will empower them.”

Asked what the government can do to secure the citizens and alleviate poverty, Bagudu said: “The problem we are having is that we always base everything on the government. Government alone cannot do everything, NGOs and individuals should join hands and let’s empower each other.

“We can’t say we will rely on getting a job 100 per cent. I don’t believe in getting a blue-collar job alone. But I believe in having skills that we can use and also sell the skills and also train others.”

She said before oil, Nigeria was known for agriculture, adding that the country must go back to agriculture to grow the economy.

McEva Temofe, director of communication of the foundation, said a research was conducted by the foundation to ascertain where intervention should be made, considering what happened to a lot of families during the lockdown which put them off balance.

Temofe added that the foundation also set up a health team to check people’s high blood pressure, conduct HIV and other tests.

On his part, Usman Adamu, vice chairman of Kunchingoro IDPs, commended the government, NGO and individuals for their intervention for the past seven years they have been in the camp.

“We have been given notice by land owners to leave by January. In January now we don’t know where we are going. We want the government to help us in that area,” he said.