A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State and member of the seventh National Assembly, Mr. Bamidele Faparusi, has charged the Federal Government not to cancel the proposed welfare scheme for poor Nigerians.
He said the government should sustain the programme in spite of the shrinking of the revenues accruing to the government, and counselled that rather than dumping the programme, President Muhammadu Buhari should place high premium on the proposed welfare scheme for vulnerable Nigerians, where each beneficiary will take a monthly stipend of N5,000.
According to him, the time has come for the fashioning of robust policies bygovernment at all levels for vulnerable Nigerians in the country. He said the neglect being suffered by these category of people could worsen their situation and dash their dreams.
Faparusi also urged well-meaning individuals “to imbibe the culture of giving to the less privileged in the society to complement government’s efforts of making lives meaningful to this category of people.”
The APC chief, who said this while donating items to inmates of Erelu Adebayo Foundation Home, said “the welfare scheme remains the flagship of the Buhari government,” saying “the programme should be well executed to favour poverty-stricken Nigerians, especially the grossly vulnerable ones.”
He lamented that “apart from government, it is necessary for wealthy individuals to embrace the attitude of giving in order to put simile on the faces of the downtrodden. This is the best legacy one can give to humanity which can attract blessings from God.
“The harsh economic condition of the society occasioned by pervasive corruption of the past administrations could have subjected the less privileged to hunger, starvation and ailments emanating from malnutrition and many other sources.
“So, we have to come to their aid. We must defend their rights. We must fight for them because it is practically impossible for them to fight for themselves. The provision of daily need materials to the children was not political but a directive from God.
Earlier, a social worker in the children home, Mrs Bisola Adeniyi, described the gesture as a rare privilege for the children home, most especially when the economy of the country was becoming more devastating.
Hesaid the food items donated would go a long way in ameliorating the sufferings of the children and reduce perpetual hunger experienced as a result of poor funding of the foundation.
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