Ben Ndu
The Enugu State Government has taken over warehouse facility renovated by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Enugu Field Office.
The facility was formally, which was donated to them by the Enugu State Government fifteen years ago, was formally handed over to the state government on Wednesday after it’s renovation by UNICEF.
The facility was located at Emeka Ebila Avenue, Enugu.
Speaking at the event, Dr Charles Lolika, the UNICEF Nigeria Deputy Representative(Operations), expressed joy that the state government was magnanimous enough to have given them the warehouse free of charge.
“On behalf of UNICEF, I am honoured to formally hand back this warehouse facility to the government of Enugu State, closing a productive chapter in our partnership.
“Since 2011, when the state generously provided this facility under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), it has served as a vital logistics hub supporting programme delivery across our Filed Office states.
“Today’s handover reflects more than the return of a building. It symbolises trust, shared responsibility and our joint commitment to advancing the wellbeing of children and communities in Enugu State,” he said.
He added that the warehouse served “from health and nutrition supplies to education materials; WASH commodities and emergency response items; this warehouse strengthened supply chains; improved last mile delivery and enabled rapid response during public health and humanitarian crises.”
The UNICEF representative expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Enugu State for the facility and pledged more collaborations between UNICEF and the state government.
“They really did a great job to facilitate this rent-free facility which really saved the operational cost for UNICEF and other UN agencies.
“We are not only handing this warehouse as infrastructure, but we continue also to build the capacity of the state government in warehouse management, including digitalisation.
“Wherever there are few supplies we get, we will still hand them over to the government, and they will be managing on our behalf.
“So, that is the status where we are. We are really very grateful to the government of the state,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Enugu State Government and the Ministry of Health, the Commissioner, Prof. George Ugwu, expressed joy that UNICEF was handing back a renovated facility.
“We are here to receive back the warehouse that the government of Enugu State handed over to UNICEF many years ago to help in keeping the items of work.
“They have finished using it and considered it necessary to renovate the warehouse and hand it over back to us, the state government.
“We are grateful that UNICEF has renovated it a bit, bringing it to a standard where we can just continue to use it.
“The warehouse, in serving our state, allows us to receive and keep many commodities and items, including health items, nutrition commodities, WASH items, and all sorts of items that we eventually distribute, sometimes, to our healthcare facilities across the state,” the commissioner said.
Similarly, the Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Dr. Ifenyinwa Ani-Osheku, thanked UNICEF for returning a renovated facility and promised that it would be put to better use to serve the state better.
“Today is actually a day where we get to witness another episode of what partnership can truly do, ” she said.
