The country of Switzerland has shown great kindness to Borno State, Nigeria. They gave a big gift of €1.2 million ($1.3 million) to help people hurt by big floods there.
A man named Nicolas Lang, who is Switzerland’s special representative in Nigeria, told people about this when he visited Maiduguri, a main city in Borno State. He and some friends from the Swiss Embassy spoke with leaders there, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria.
Ambassador Lang was with two other important people, Nicolas Martin-Achard and Florent Geel. They said Switzerland wants to keep helping Borno State get better after the floods.
The ambassador said this new money adds to the help Switzerland already gave Borno in 2023, which was around $700,000. The earlier money went to something called the Borno Model. This is a plan to help regular people and some former fighters from a group called Boko Haram to start new lives after long fights.
“The earlier help was used well to do what it was meant to: support the Borno Model and help in the ongoing tough times,” Ambassador Lang said during his visit.
He added that this new help shows that Switzerland always stands with Borno’s leaders and its people. Borno has had to deal with many problems like fighting and now floods.
Important Things to Know
The main leader of Borno, Governor Babagana Zulum, said thank you very much for Switzerland’s help. He said this money would be really important in helping people, and he promised it would be used wisely and openly.
“We are very thankful to the Swiss people for their kind help in these hard times. Also, thank you to Ambassador Lang and his friends for visiting and showing they care,” Governor Zulum said.
The floods were really bad, making over a million people leave their homes in and around the main city, Maiduguri. These floods made things hard because it’s already difficult there. They were some of the worst people can remember, caused by too much rain and a dam breaking, leading to a lot of damage. Many homes were covered in water fast, making life even harder for those living there.
Earlier news said Borno’s leaders got N4.4 billion out of a promised N13.1 billion to help people affected by the Maiduguri flood. This is around 33.59% of the promised gifts.