IN line with Goal Number 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals, which is to achieve zero hunger, coupled with the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led administration’s plan to consolidate the Restoration, Transformation and Repositioning agenda, the Ajumose Food Bank Initiative was birthed. Through the initiative championed by the Wife of the state governor, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, food is distributed across local governments to ensure that the Oyo people do not live in hunger. The Ajumose Food Bank initiative is the brainchild of Mrs Florence Ajimobi, wife of the Oyo State governor. The programme, which started in 2012 briefly after the inauguration of Governor Ajimobi’s first stint in office, has catered for tens of thousands of women who in turn fed their families from the withdrawals from the Ajumose Food Bank. According to Mrs Ajimobi, the initiative is a token of raw food given basically to women because they cater for the family and provide nourishment for the home, and are therefore the focus of the initiative.
On a regular basis, the state government, through the office of the Wife of the Governor, goes round the corners of the state using the platform of government at the grass roots (local government) to reach out to the poorest people. Since the local government is closer to the people, they can identify those who need the intervention drawn from the Ajumose Food Bank. The purpose is to save people from hunger and salvage them from the squalor of starvation and malnourishment. A healthy people make a healthy state and a healthy state makes a great country. The Ajumose food Bank, which used to be a once in a year event in each local government, is now a quarterly programme following the governor’s affirmation of his commitment to the people he serves during this period of harsh economic weather. The update will see the initiative train move to 33 local governments thrice in a year.
The food bank, which was re-introduced in July last year, has catered for over 17,000 women across 33 local governments still keeps enlarging to accommodate more people in the scheme and the train keeps moving to other local governments and towns of the state.
The beauty of the programme is that it does not discriminate but equitably distributes the available food materials to the mothers and women. Regardless of party and political affiliation and social leanings, it caters for all those that need it most. As a matter of fact, no political register is mentioned during the distribution; everybody is considered equal and the food items are humanely distributed by the wife of the governor. The female folk were chosen because mothers are believed to bear the burden of providing for the family and providing ample nourishment for both the children and the husband.
Mrs Ajimobi, with her humane mind set, has followed the vision to make malnutrition and extreme hunger a thing of the past in Oyo state. The vision to eradicate starvation in Oyo State is reinforced by the United Nations’ set objective for Sustainable development. In view of the current economic situation, the re-launch of the Ajumose Food Bank is well-timed and appropriate to ameliorate the threat and harm posed by the current economic recession in the state.
- Ajagbe lives in Ibadan
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