The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, has said the 10th House will attract a 20-bed hospital to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Kabusa in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Speaker gave the assurance when he visited the IDPs’ camp on Tuesday alongside his wife, Hajiya Fatima Abbas Tajudeen, the Deputy Speaker Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, some principal officers and members of the House.
The visit was part of Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary celebrations and the Speaker’s 59th birthday.
Speaker Abbas also said the House would work with the relevant government agencies to improve the living standards of the IDPs at various camps nationwide in the 2025 budget.
“I decided that today, rather than going to wine and dine with my friends, I decided to come and celebrate with you. Thank you for being patient. Thank you for supporting our government. We are aware of your plight. We can feel your sadness. We can feel your sorrow. We know what you’re going through, and we will do everything humanly possible to bring succour and hope to your lives.
“My celebrating with you today is one of the ways that we in the House of Representatives want to show you that we are with you and will continue to be with you. We will collaborate with the agencies as we’ve always been doing, particularly with NEMA and the refugees commission, as well as the relevant committees of the House to see what we can do in the 2025 budget to improve the living standards of all the IDPs across different camps in this country.
“I assure you we are not here to pay lip service; we are not here to just market ourselves and tell you what we can’t do. We will do it. We will see ways and means of making a difference in your lives. I implore you to continue to be patient with us and pray for our motherland for God to restore peace and normalcy in our lives, to improve our economy, to improve our security, to improve our schools, to improve our youth, to take away kidnappers and drugs in our society.”
Speaker Abbas said, having seen the plight of the IDPs, firsthand, “I want to assure you that the House of Representatives, and by extension the National Assembly, will not allow things to continue this way.”
The Speaker, who was impressed by the large turnout of the IDPs, said, “I didn’t know this gathering will be a formal one. I requested that it should be low-key, just an opportunity for me to interact with you one-on-one. Little did I know that I’d come and see it take a different dimension.
“It is gratifying that the Almighty God has given me the opportunity to see first hand, the plight of our people in the camp. This is my first time since I became Speaker to visit this kind of settlement. It is for us to see your plight. Right on our way to this community, we say the condition of the road. I now know the plight that the people of this community are facing.”
He urged leaders to refocus their attention on the issues that affect the country, such as poverty.