ABUJA – The Nigerian Turkish International Colleges Foundation (NTICF) says it will construct 100 boreholes annually as part of efforts to ease access to clean and safe drinking water to Nigerians.
Mr Mohammed Cetin, a member of the foundation, said this at a news conference in Abuja.
He said that the boreholes would be constructed in different parts of the country.
‘’The foundation’s clean water project across the country aims to protect millions of children who are especially vulnerable to the more than 30 waterborne diseases which afflicts populations in the developing world.
‘’The World Health Organisation estimates that about 4 million people die from waterborne diseases every year.
‘’We realised that about 50 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to portable water. As a strategy, we plan to construct 100 boreholes every year across the country.”
Cetin, a former member of Turkish parliament, said that the foundation had also provided scholarships to indigent students in Nigeria, as part of its social responsibility to humanity.
He said that the foundation, through its cataract removal programme, had also provided free eye treatment and surgeries to about 100 indigent beneficiaries.
‘’Ten times more beneficiaries are being targeted. But the focus is not just on diagnostic or curative medicine. Prevention also forms its health programme,’’ Cetin said.
According to him, there is also a plan by the foundation to provide free feeding to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states during the forthcoming Ramadan fast.
The foundation runs some educational institutions in Nigeria. (NAN)
