Chairman, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Oyo State, Mr Sikiru Sanda has disclosed that the distribution of palliatives across local government areas of the state is at least 80 per cent gone.
Governor Seyi Makinde had on August 30, in Oyo town, flagged off the distribution of the palliatives to 200,000 households under what the state government called Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER).
Speaking with Tribune Online, Sanda said, going by the movement of the palliatives out of the various local government headquarters where they were stored, the state was approaching the 100 percent threshold in terms of distribution.
Sanda said the target beneficiaries were the vulnerable, aged, people living with disabilities, widows and those it categorised as poorest of the poor.
He said, “It is being packaged and stored in our various local government councils. When it goes out, we monitor its movement. So far, if not 100 percent, nothing less than 80 percent has been done.”
Makinde, during the flagoff said 200,000 households were targeted in the first phase with items such as 10kg rice, 5 kg of garri, 5kg beans, 5kg yam powder and 1 ltr of vegetable oil to be distributed.
Quizzed about political coloration to the distribution, Sanda said the SAfER committee tasked independent persons outside government to do the distribution, saying, “I do not know of political interference in the sharing. It is not handled by politicians but by some other independent committees outside the government. The plan is to not allow political interference to override the objective. The committee gave it to people that we can rely on.
Asked about observations of chaotic, disorganized distribution modalities in some areas, Sanda fingered the lack of patience of some residents.
He decried situations where some people shove aside the targeted beneficiaries and hijack the items thereby disrupting organised distribution of the items.
Also queried about the scenario where those distributing drop a few bags from junction to junction and zoom off, Sanda said this happened when those distributing find themselves at risk of being mobbed by people who besieged the buses containing the items.
He said, “There will never be a system in this country that will be 100 percent perfect. That is why we engaged security agencies because of hoodlums that may want to hijack the distribution.
“If we allow it to go the way it has been scheduled, a good number of people will be able to benefit from it.
“But, we are all human beings. We lack patience in situations like this. In advanced countries, you give people that are less privileged opportunities to get first, but here, it is even the privileged that push the less privileged out k the queue.
“That is an area we want to kick against. But, our people lack patience. Allowing people to get the items, they injure themselves.
“But, the people sharing it also have to be cautious of their lives so they are not mobbed. If their lives are at risk, they will leave for another place.”
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