President Bola Tinubu
By Victory Oghene
Some Nigerians have reacted to a viral video whereby bags of rice recently distributed by the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government was re-bagged for commercial sale in Kogi State.
Some of them who spoke to NATIONAL WAVES said they had earlier told the President not to share food or money because it would not get to the intended people.
Mrs Roda Adewale a Lagos based petty trader said she expected such trend and that was why she was against the distribution of food and money.
She said “I have always kick against sharing of food and money. We experienced same thing during the Covid 19 period, the palliative did not get to us, the vulnerable, instead it made some fraudulent government officials richer”
Musa Abdukarim who’s based in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja also frowned at the sharing of food and money. He added that motive behind the policy is good but the implementation of such policy is the problem. “Yes, its a good idea to share food and money to the the less privileged but the implementation is always affected by greed and corruption. My brother look at what happened at the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, some people pocketed billions of naira meant to be distributed to vulnerable people. It took the intervention of the EFCC before some of the monies could be recovered”
Lekan Komolafe a battery charger based in Lagos told NATIONAL WAVES that since the government had been sharing money and food he had never received a dime or the said palliative. He said “I adviced the President to stop sharing food and money instead he should use the money the to give us adequate power supply and tar our roads, the President is only making some government officials overnight millionaires.
Precious Omoregbe added her voice to those against sharing of food and money.
“I’m totally against this move, I adviced President Tinubu to ensure our Refineries work. If the government Refineries start working and we stop importing fuel, the prices of fuel will go down and the prices of food stuff will also crash. We were told our Refineries will start working in December 2023, this is July 2024 ending yet the Refineries are not working and the President has refused to address the issue instead what we read is the rift between Dangote and the NNPC and NMDPRA. It’s so sad that the most of our leaders forget why they are voted into the office once they get into the Presidential Villa. Imagine no electricity, no fuel, there is fuel queue everywhere. I’m ashamed to be a Nigerian.
Mr.Joseph Amadi, a 60-year-old Nigerian based in the United States could not hold back his tears as he responded to NATIONAL WAVES’s question on phone regarding the sharing of food. He said ” Corruption has literally eaten deep into our fabrics. When shall we get it right. I have seen other advanced countries sharing palliative for the people. They will bring the food and the people will queue up to collect. They do it regularly. For instance in Staten Island, I do see people queue up to collect food regularly. The food were not diverted. So why is Nigeria different, are we cursed as a people? You steal food meant for the vulnerable and repackage and sell same. This is unfair.
Adams Oghenero wants the government to stop the sharing of food and money. He advised that subsidised food should be sold in the market with adequate monitoring by task force. “By doing this, the food will get to so many people” He said
Tajudeen Lawal a resident of Ondo State said they got a 10kg bag of rice for a community with over 1000 houses. He said “The last they shared palliative, we got a 10kg bag of rice for a community of over 1000 houses, how do we share this? Its embarrassing. Instead of giving out the food. They will repackage it and sell same.”
It would be recalled that the government had earlier said it gave 20 trucks of 25kg rice to each state for free distribution to vulnerable households.
Each truck is said to contain 1200 bags as one the interventionary measures of the FG in tackling the surging food inflation in the country.
In the said video, residents were seen stating that as against the directive that the rice should be distributed for free, some persons are repackaging them to be sold in open market.
“The rice shared by the federal government is being repackaged for sale. As you can see on the body is written “not for sale”, however we accosted these persons trying to repackage it. They said they got the rice from the Agriculture ministry in the country” the incensed residents noted in the video.
They lamented the rising cost of living and how the intervention meant was also subjected to fraudulent practices.
“It’s unfortunate, I bought a tin of Beans for N380 yesterday and see what they are doing to this rice now” another person said in the video.
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