By Abdullahi Lukman
The federal government will disburse ₦6.3 billion in interest- and collateral-free loans to 21,000 Nigerians affected by flooding across the country, Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, announced on Monday.
Sununu made this known during a roundtable event in Abuja to mark the 2025 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The initiative aims to mitigate the economic impact of floods and enhance food security nationwide.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal, lawmakers, and international partners attended the event.
Each beneficiary will receive over ₦300,000 as part of the federal government’s broader efforts to support vulnerable communities.
The minister also highlighted that more than 8.1 million households have received over ₦300 billion through the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme, helping to improve health, education, and resilience in local communities.
Further efforts are underway to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) through a collaborative farming scheme with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Under this programme, IDPs will retain 30% of the produce they cultivate, while the government will off-take the remaining 70% and return its cash value to participants.
Also speaking, the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Zubaida Umar, emphasized that Nigeria is increasingly vulnerable to disasters driven by climate change, conflict, and pandemics.
She called for a shift from reactive emergency responses to a proactive, well-financed disaster risk management system.
Umar also announced the launch of two key policy documents: the NEMA Strategy Plan (2025–2029) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy (2025–2030), to guide future efforts in disaster preparedness and response.
