Abuja – The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, has pleaded with Nigerians to always render assistance to less-privileged members of the society.

Maku made the appeal in a keynote address he delivered at a dinner, organised by the Belize Consulate in Abuja on Friday.

The fund-raising event was held in collaboration with the Nigeria-Belize Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.

It was organised to solicit financial support for the establishment of an Inspiration Centre, a brain-child of Belize’s Prime Minister’s wife, Mrs Kim Barrow, aimed at helping the under-privileged.

The minister said that the “ under-privileged are found in every society globally and they can be found even in the holy books and what we owe them is care and support.”

He said, “faith in God is not mere theory but the practical rendering of help to the needy.

“Today, the richest people in the world are devoting a large chunk of their wealth to helping the under-privileged in order to make the global society a better place,’’ Maku said.

Earlier in his welcome address, Dr Ifeanyichukwu Ifedi, the Consul-General of the Belize Embassy in Nigeria, said the consulate organised the dinner because of its “belief in the first lady’s worthy cause’’.

He urged Nigerians visit the consulate and acquaint themselves with knowledge of the small Latin American country and its great business opportunities.

The Belizean first lady, in her speech, said that her desire to establish the centre had been a life-time ambition she had been nursing for a long time.

She said that the Inspiration Centre , an all-inclusive, multi-purpose centre that would be cited in Belize City, the country’s capital, would cater for both the less-privileged and the ‘’differently-able.’’ (NAN).