“As Long As Yelwata Is Suffering, Nigeria Is Suffering” – Peter Obi

–Promised water, basic edu for orphans

Presidential hopeful Peter Obi on Wednesday visited Yelwata community to commiserate with residents affected by recent attacks, pledging borehole water, N10 million for the education of orphaned children, and sustained support for the community. adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Obi said he came to feel the pain of the people and to listen to their cries, not to apportion blame over what happened.

“First, I came here to most sincerely commiserate with the people of Yelwata. I came to feel your pain. I came to feel your cries.

“I have listened to Dr. Andrew. Let me assure you that we feel your pain. We understand all that you are going through, and I assure you that, while we are working hard in Nigeria, we must stop mothers from crying for their children and stop children from crying for their parents.”

Obi said his vision was for a secure country where no Nigerian fears living in his or her community and no Nigerian becomes a refugee.

“As long as Yelwata is suffering, Nigeria is suffering. As long as Yelwata is going through pain, Nigeria is going through pain. That is what we want to stop,” he said.

“We are not here in any way to say that we know what happened or who was responsible. We are here to say that what happened in Yelwata should not happen in a Nigeria where we are ready to fight back.”

He called on all men of goodwill to ensure that such an incident does not happen again, and prayed for comfort for mothers who lost their husbands and children who lost their parents.

Responding to issues raised by community leader Dr. Andrew, Obi identified water as the most urgent need and promised to support the provision of a borehole for the community.

“The most important issue Andrew raised today was the need for water. Andrew, I assure you that we will support you. I will support you to ensure that a borehole is provided here,” he said.

He also announced an initial sum of N10 million to support the education of children who became orphans and may no longer be able to go to school, noting his belief in supporting education, especially at the basic level.

Obi added that he would engage other agencies to explore ways of providing healthcare support for the community.

“Today, my purpose is to listen to what has happened. I have listened to your experiences, and I assure you that we will do whatever it takes to support this community and help you overcome these difficulties,” he assured.

“We cannot continue to have a Nigeria like this. We must deal with this situation. We want to unite Nigeria, secure it and lift people out of poverty. I want people to return to their farms.”

Obi assured the community that within two years, Nigerians would have access to primary healthcare, with a plan to build 10,000 primary healthcare centres covering at least one in each of the 8,809 wards in the country.

He said communities were currently without primary healthcare facilities, with schools not functioning and residents not secure.

“We will ensure that we decisively address these security challenges so that Nigerians can go to bed with their eyes closed and return to their farms to earn a living. I assure you that we will do this,” he said.

Obi disclosed that it was his third attempt to visit Yelwata and expressed happiness that he finally made it without any incident. He said he spoke with the Governor the previous day and that Governor Alia welcomed his visit.

“This will not be my last visit. I will come back to Yelwata. I am part of your pain,” he said.