Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, yesterday, began the distribution of palliative packages, comprising 40,000 bags of rice as well as beans, garri, eluboand vegetable oil to 200,000 households under the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER) initiative.
Speaking at the commencement of the exercise in Oyo town, Makinde said his government did not rush to begin distribution of the palliatives because of the need to effectively plan and embark on sustainable action that will secure the state’s economy.
The governor stated that the state, upon receiving 3,000 bags of rice from the Federal Government, decided to tarry a while, knowing that such would be inadequate if shared to the target 200,000 households.
According to him, if the state had distributed the 3,000 bags to 200,000 households, probably each person would get a cup of rice, but the state bought additional 37,000 bags of rice, making it 40,000 bags.
“That is why each of the 200,000 poorest households will be getting 10kg of rice. We also procured for each household 5kg bags of beans, garri, elubo and a bottle of oil.”
Also, Kwara State Government, yesterday, flagged off distribution of palliatives to the most vulnerable persons in the state, with the committee saying it would share at least 250,000 10kg bags in the first phase.
To ensure fairness Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on August 22, inaugurated a 12-person committee to coordinate the distribution of palliatives purchased with the N2 billion received from the Federal Government.
At the flag-off in Ilorin, according to Press Secretary to the Committee, Issa Muhammed, the governor said the palliatives were only a show of empathy with the people, as more sustainable initiatives are being implemented in phases.
Represented by the House of Assembly Speaker, Yakubu Salihu, the governor said: “This is only a fraction of what we have done to identify with the people at this very critical moment of our national life. Palliatives are a stop-gap measure to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy on the most vulnerable among us.”
