The Enugu State Government on Thursday gave N77 million to 77 families whose members returned from South Africa following xenophobic attacks.
The Enugu State Governor, Mr. Peter Mbah, announced the intervention at an event organised to welcome the returnees at the International Conference Centre, Enugu.
The 77 families comprised 112 Enugu State indigenes forced to return home amid renewed xenophobic attacks.
Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, presented N1 million to each family.
He said that the state government was also profiling 42 additional returnee families in collaboration with the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).
Mbah condemned the attacks and urged the returnees not to be afraid of rebuilding their lives in Enugu.
“The renewed attacks and hostility directed at black African migrants in parts of South Africa is condemnable and have forced many Nigerians to reconsider their safety and return home,” he said.
He acknowledged that some returnees might have left behind businesses, possessions, investments, friendships and years of work.
“While there is happiness in seeing you alive and safely back on Enugu soil, we also understand that coming home under circumstances you did not choose can carry its own pain,” he said.
According to him, the challenge is not merely receiving the returnees, but helping them rebuild their lives after returning home.
“The question before us is not simply, ‘How do we receive our people back?’ The bigger question is: ‘How do we help them begin again?’
“That is why today’s reception must go beyond photographs and handshakes,” Mbah added.
He said that the financial support was not compensation for everything the returnees might have lost, but a deliberate expression of solidarity.
“The important thing is that we want this intervention to move you from returning home to rebuilding at home,” he said.
Mbah said the state government would continue exploring opportunities, programmes and institutions capable of supporting the returnees’ reintegration.
He urged them to remain hopeful and deploy the experiences and skills acquired in South Africa towards exploring opportunities in Enugu.
Earlier, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Diaspora, Mrs. Olangwa Ezekwu, commended the Federal Government for facilitating the returnees’ safe arrival.
Ezekwu specifically praised the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and NiDCOM, led by Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa.
She also thanked Governor Mbah for supporting the returnees and described him as “a father to all”.
Responding on behalf of the returnees, Chidimma Ogbonna thanked Governor Mbah for his concern and financial support, saying: “we feel at home and your kindness gave hope and opportunity. Thank you for welcoming us home and for believing in us.”
GIK/APA