By Martin Paul
Abuja
Former President of the Senate, David Mark, has urged Nigerians to pray for the country to overcome the challenges posed by insecurity.
A statement signed by his media assistant, Mr. Paul Mumeh, stated that Mark made the call during the distribution of his annual Christmas and New Year packages to his constituent’s members in nine local government areas of Benue.
It said that Mark was represented on the occasion by his wife, Mrs. Helen Mark.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to use the celebration of Christmas to pray for peace, adding that peace was fundamental to national development.
The statement said that the annual Xmas and New Year felicitations with his constituents which began eight years ago, was borne out of Mark’s passion and love for the less privileged.
“It is a decision taken by my family to identify with the people in or out of public office.
“It was for the same vision that we floated the David Mark Scholarship Foundation that offers scholarship to students in tertiary institutions annually.
“At the moment, no fewer than 20,000 students have benefited from the scholarship scheme since its inception in 2005,’’the statement quoted Mark as saying.
According to the statement, the foodstuffs distributed across the Idoma land, includes bags of rice, beans, yams, groundnut oil and tomatoes.
The foodstuffs were distributed to widows and orphans among others in Agatu, Apa, Ohinmini, Ogbadibo, Okpokwu, Ado, Oju, Obi and Otukpo local government areas, the statement said.
