• Beneficiaries commend govt for seamless exercise

By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Kwara State Government has 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 from fuel subsidy removal.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Community Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, disclosed that the
food items are already being distributed among the less privileged across the 16 local governments of the state.

Olohungbebe said the palliative distribution is guided by the template the state received from the Federal Government, and that his office only supervised 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 and so forth. These are the people that will take care of it in each local government area,” he told reporters on Tuesday, 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 Mashood Magaji, for his part, 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,” he said.

“We have millet, sorghum, and maize. Millet is 2,216, maize is 7,042, while 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, Oke-Ero. On the 2nd of June, we gave out to Patigi, Edu, Oyun, Offa, Ilorin South and Moro. While the third part of it includes Irepodun, Ilorin West, Isin and Ekiti local governments respectively.”

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.

Director of Personnel Management (DPM) for Ekiti LG, Ayantola Kunle Mukaila, said representatives from each political ward of Ekiti collected for their people and that they made sure that they are delivered as expected, describing the distribution as transparent and rancor free.

Another DPM from Irepodun local government, Comrade Saaduku Abdullahi, said the handling of the programme was perfect, and praised the state government and other key stakeholders who assisted in identifying target people.

” I thank the Federal and State governments, especially the Governor, His Excellency, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for the generous donation of these palliatives. The handling of this exercise has been perfect. I commend the team in charge, and the traditional rulers; and the entire people of Irepodun for their patience and for allowing us to go by the guidelines of distribution,” he said.