Kwara State Government on Tuesday commenced the distribution of another
17,578 50kg bags of maize, sorghum, and millet palliatives it received from the Federal Government to further support vulnerable citizens amid the inconveniences of fuel subsidy removal.
The food items are already being distributed among the less privileged across the 16 local governments of the state, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe.
Olohungbebe said the palliative distribution is guided by the template the state received from the Federal Government, and that his office only supervises it to ensure that it gets to the right people.
“The instructions given by the federal government is that there has to be a committee in each local government area that will oversee the items.
“The committee comprises the DPMs (Directors of Personal Management) in the absence of the chairmen of local government areas; traditional rulers; representatives of the DSS; ICPC; civil society organizations; National Youth Council of Nigeria; women groups; development officers; and so on.
“These are the people that will take care of it in each local government area,” adding that the distribution is directly being handled by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
“So, what we are doing is just to ensure that it gets to the local government area. By the time it gets there, they will now identify the vulnerable ones among them.”
Secretary for SEMA, Mallam Saadu Magaji confirmed that the office recently took delivery of the items, and has started sharing them since last Saturday based on the template they got from Abuja.
“These palliatives are for distribution to vulnerable people across the state.
“It is a federal government intervention in collaboration with NEMA and the Office of the National Security Adviser. It was around two months ago that we received them through the federal government.
“We have millet, sorghum, and maize. Millet is 2,216, maize is 7,042, and sorghum is 8,320 bags, which makes a total number of 17,578 50kg of the three items. They are shared across the sixteen local governments.
“We started the distribution for 6 LGs on 1st June 2024, such as Baruten, Kaiama, Asa, Ilorin East, Ifelodun, and Oke-Ero. On the 2nd of June, we gave out to Patigi, Edu, Oyun, Offa, Ilorin South and Moro. The third part of it includes Irepodun, Ilorin West, Isin, and Ekiti local governments respectively,” he said.
He described the exercise as smooth and rancour-free, commending the state government and other key stakeholders for their support towards identifying the target beneficiaries in all nooks and crannies of the state.
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