Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government has flaged-off the distribution of palliatives with Governor Peter Mbah ordering the immediate delivery of 52,000 bags of rice and 52,000 bags of maize to the urban and rural poor in the state.
The palliatives include 200 bags of rice and 200 bags of maize to each of the 260 wards in the state.
Mbah, however, said the palliatives were part of the short-term strategies to fighting poverty, saying the medium and long-term plans of his administration remained to eradicate poverty in the state in line with his manifesto.
While flagging-off the distribution the government said it had put in place a structure to decentralise the distribution, involving local council leaderships, town unions, religious institutions, among others.
“Once we leave here, these items will begin to get distributed across the 17 local governments from today,” Mbah said.
The Governor also announced the procurement of buses to subsidise transportation and enable the people to go about their socio-economic activities with ease.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Enugu State Chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Hon. Okechukwu Edeh, who is also a member of the state palliatives committee, assured that the items would trickle down to the poor immediately.
“As the ALGON Chairman, I promise you that I will work with my colleagues to make sure that these items get to the downtrodden.
“It is not for everybody; it is for the poor, and it must get to them based on the expanded social register that has been compiled,” he said.
Speaking, the Chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities, Enugu State chapter, Onyebuchi Mbah, thanked the state government for including their members in the palliatives distribution.
“I wish to say kudos to the current administration in Enugu State because they deemed it fit to practice inclusiveness, involving the most vulnerable groups, persons with disabilities in this exercise. I want them to continue in that direction.
“Let me also say that in the exercise so far, the state governor has played his own role and we hope that the directives he has given will be followed so that these items will get to the most vulnerable population,” he said.
