You came at a time Nigeria needed you most, proud citizen hails ‘mother’ Sadiya Farouq in open letter

A well-meaning Nigerian has described Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouk as an “epitome of true motherhood” who came at a time Nigeria needed her the most.  

Priscila Guoti, who simply dubbed herself as a ‘proud Nigerian’ made this known in an open letter to the minister, published on her social media platforms. 

Established in August 2019, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, was among others, tasked with providing humanitarian policies, coordinating humanitarian interventions and ensuring strategic disaster mitigations. 

Hajiya Sadiya was saddled with the responsibility of piloting this infant ministry and Guoti believes that decision by President Muhammadu is a shrewd one. 

Guoti said Hajiya Sadiya’s “passion to work for the upliftment of the vulnerable in the society” propelled her into writing the letter. 

Outlining the minister’s impact barely one year in office, Gouti added that the ” efforts you put in during the Covid-19 lockdown saw to the delivery of palliatives to thousands of persons”. 

She further disclosed that, “your initiative not to relax the school feeding programmes but to extend it to homes was another brilliant idea that helped indigent families to continue the mental and physical building of their children”.

According to the Lagos-based lady, the minister’s biggest achievement yet is the introduction of the N-Power Batch C sheme which could potentially benefit 4,000 young Nigerians.

While applauding her dedication and commitment to the job, Gouti, however, urged Hajiya Farouq not to relent or distracted by enemies of humanity, assuring her of the prayers of Nigerians. 

Read full letter below:

It is said that when a child looks into a mother’s eyes while being carried in her arms, you’ll know that is the purest love he has found on earth; because, a mother’s arms are made of tenderness and love.

Though you are not our biological mother, the brief period you have stayed in office has given us; we, the women of Nigeria, the kind of joy a child gets when in the arms of a loving mother.

Since you were appointed a minister in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari and given a portfolio that requires compassion and love for the people,  I have noticed your passion to work for the upliftment of the vulnerable in the society and that is why I have decided to write a public letter to you.

I apologise if my action will cause you any embarrassment, but I think it will be the height of ingratitude to see something going well and fail to commend it for fear of being labelled.

Honourable Minister, I have seen the uncommon intellect you have brought to bear in the ministry of humanitarian affairs and the energy you have devoted to working out programmes that would see to the development of the society at large and I commend your efforts.

President Buhari is indeed a visionary leader for him to have created a ministry that would take care of emergencies and appointed you as its minister even when there was no outbreak of the coronavirus Pandemic.

One cannot imagine what would have happened if the ministry of humanitarian affairs was not created and you appointed as a minister when the pandemic broke out.

The efforts you put in during the Covid-19 lockdown saw to the delivery of palliatives to thousands of persons and the ministry was able to reach out to an equal number of households with relief items.

I am based in Ikeja,  Lagos State, and as a small scale business owner who was compelled to close her shop for months, I have seen the effect of your work on our women who collected various sums of money and food items that helped them in surviving the lock down period.

Your initiative not to relax the school feeding programmes but to extend it to homes was another brilliant idea that helped indigent families to continue the mental and physical building of their children.

This has turned out to be a most welcome idea because of the impact on children and the relief it brought on their parents who were under pressure to provide for them when no economic activity was going on was massive. 

Honourable Minister, one of the most important things you have done which promises to profoundly affect the lives of people positively is the introduction of the Batch C, N-Power Scheme.

The programme when it was introduced in 2016 sounded to us like a fairly tale until we started seeing beneficiaries making good use of their earnings under the programme to start businesses and raise the living standards of their families. 

By the time we began to appreciate how the government was helping people, it was too late for those of us who had not applied.

Honourable Minister, if not for you, the 5,000 beneficiaries of the first and second phases of the programme would have continued even when many of them have been able to establish their own businesses while some of us that missed the first and second flights would have been left stranded at the airport.

But your intervention, has opened a window of opportunity for fresh set of 4,000 people to enrol and our joy knows no bound.

Though our applications are yet to be confirmed, the hope that there’s a possibility for some of us to qualify and be paid about N30,000 a month means a lot to us.

I am not asking for any favours or undue considerations over others, my concern is that more people would have the opportunity that others have had which have stabilised their families and given them a legitimate source of livelihood.

Even if I don’t qualify, the fact that some other people would, gives me great joy as the overall impact would also trickle down on me.

I have heard some people trying to criticise the initiative due to one reason or the other but I will advise you to remain focused and not shift ground because you have taken the right decision that would broaden the scope of poverty alleviation in our country and bring succour to many.

You have come a time when Nigeria needs you most as the post-pandemic era threatens to come with its challenges.

We implore you Honourable Minister to once again use your out-of-the-box calculus to see to the success of the N-Power Batch ‘C’ programme or introduce new schemes that will focus on the plight of rural women.

Honourable Minister, you must not be distracted by whatever names the enemies of humanity are calling you.

You must remain focused and committed to the virtues of accountability, humility and kindness to succeed as the success of the programmes you have embarked on so far all bear testimony to your courage and integrity.

Do not relent and I can assure you that we will continue to pray for you to succeed.