The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has officially returned a warehouse that was given to it by the Enugu State Government about fifteen years ago.
The handover ceremony took place in Enugu on Thursday. The Deputy Representative (Operations) of UNICEF Nigeria, Dr. Charles Lolika, thanked the state government for allowing UNICEF to use the warehouse free of charge since 2011.
Lolika said the warehouse was given to UNICEF through a Memorandum of Understanding and had served as an important storage and logistics centre for many years.
“On behalf of UNICEF, I am honoured to officially return this warehouse facility to the Enugu State Government after many years of productive partnership,” he said.
He explained that since 2011, the warehouse had been used to store and distribute important supplies for UNICEF programmes. These included health and nutrition items, education materials, water and sanitation supplies, and emergency response materials.
According to him, the facility helped improve the supply system and made it easier to deliver materials to communities, especially during health emergencies and humanitarian crises.
Lolika also praised the Enugu State Government for allowing UNICEF and other United Nations agencies to use the facility without paying rent, saying the support helped reduce operational costs.
He added that although the warehouse has now been returned, UNICEF will continue to support the state by helping to improve warehouse management, including introducing digital systems.
Receiving the warehouse on behalf of the state government, the Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, expressed happiness that UNICEF renovated the building before handing it back.
Ugwu said the warehouse was originally given to UNICEF many years ago to help store materials used for development work.
“They have finished using it and decided to renovate the building before returning it to the Enugu State Government,” he said.
He added that the facility will continue to serve as a central storage centre for health, nutrition, and water and sanitation materials that are distributed to healthcare facilities across Enugu State.