Following the complete lockdown of the country occasioned by the Corona virus pandemic, Nigerians, especially the poor and vulnerable had called on the federal and state government to provide them with palliatives to enable them cope with the effect of not earning during the lockdown.
President Muhammadu Buhari thereafter approved the release of 70,000 metric tons ( about 2,505 trucks) of grains from the National Grain Reserve to be shared to vulnerable persons in the country as part of the palliative measures for the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said this in Abuja at the third joint national briefing of the PTF.
Mustapha said 60,000 metric tons of the grains would be shared to the vulnerable in FCT, Lagos and Ogun states, which are presently on lockdown, while the remaining 10,000 metric tons would be shared to the vulnerable in other frontline states across the country.
The government said the palliatives were for the most vulnerable in the society, but there were no laid down parameters for determining the beneficiaries. It was left to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, under the headship of Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq to handle.
These interventions were to be coordinated by the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
The FG intervention are clearly different from those by the Members of the private sector-led coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) also embarked on the palliatives effort with their first deliveries starting around June to the state governments.
FG palliative intervention explained
The minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq said 2.6m vulnerable persons were benefiting from the Federal government cash transfer intervention programme.
Also, over 11m households have been identified in 35 states to benefit from the palliative measure.
Out of the 2.6 million, Farouq said the FCT has 5,982 households, in Nasarawa, 8,271; Katsina, 6,732; and Anambra state has 1,367 households respectively.
She further said the ministry is working seriously to cover additonal 1m households subsequently.
Insisting that there was no favoritism in the palliative support, Farouq stressed that the ministry capture the vulnerable persons by community engagement.
“The SIP has been on since 2016 and the social national register that we have as at March 31, 2020 is made up of 11,450,537 poor and vulnerable people in 35 states and 453 Local Government Areas across the country.
ECOWAS Donates 3,999 Tons of Grains to Nigeria
The Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, also donated food palliative of three thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine (3,999) tons of grains to the Federal government.
The humanitarian support was handed over to the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, by the President of ECOWAS, Dr Jean-Claude Kassi Brou on the 22nd of August.
Media report of some state which received the FG palliatives
The Federal Government donated assorted grains as palliatives to no fewer than 64, 613 households in Edo, to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
Retired AVM Muhammadu Muhammed, the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), said the food items allocated to the state consisted of 323.29 tons of maize, an equivalent of 11 truck loads and 156.51 tons of Garri, totaling six truck loads respectively.
The FG also donated 3,543.37 metric tons of grains to Bauchi state government for distribution to vulnerable persons in the state.
On the 4th of September, media report captured the donation of 42 trucks of food items to the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for onward distribution to the poor and vulnerable people within the city and satellite towns.
Farouk said the items were meant to cater for 70,867 households in the state. The items included 10 trucks of rice, 30 trucks of grains, and two trucks of vegetable oil.
Uproar over FG intervention and Ministers’ response
Few weeks into the lockdown, there were criticism over the Federal government sharing of the palliatives across the country.
The criticism resulted in a call for an explanation of how the distribution was done.
Farouk said it is against “human dignity” to support someone and then make it public, while speaking during the presidential task force briefing on COVID-19.
She disclosed that the government has the record of the beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme and COVID-19 palliatives in states, local governments and communities.
Looting of CACOVID palliative Nationwide
Nigerians have witnessed the massive of warehouses where the CACOVID palliatives were kept by various statement government, with the incident spreading to over 10 states, forcing sub national government to declare curfew in some states.
In a statement signed by Osita Nwasinobi, CACOVID explained that 10 million vulnerable Nigerians were targeted to benefit from the Palliatives sent to the State governments across all the 774 local governments in the country.
“However, as of October 2020, a sizable portion of the items had been delivered but yet to be distributed by the Governors. Although various states and the FCT had commenced flag-off of the distribution of the food items since early August, some could not conclude the distribution as they were yet to receive complete deliveries of the items allotted to them,” he added.
According to CACOVID, each household is supposed to receive 10kg bag of rice, 5kg bag of garri/semolina, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, 5kg of sugar, and 1kg of salt adding that it worked with state governors and the minister of the federal capital territory to ensure food items reached the beneficiaries.
Farouk claims looting of warehoused CACOVID palliative vindicates her
Farouk, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, in the aftermath of the widely reported looting by hoodlums said that she chosen to forgive those who accused her of hiding palliatives meant for the masses.
Farouk stated this in Gusau on Monday, while paying homage to the Emir of Gusau, Alhaji Ibrahim Bello at his palace.
“I am aware many people have made various spurious allegations and accusations against my person and my ministry over the way we distributed Federal Government palliatives to cushion the effect of COVID-19.”
“I have always said I am carrying out my duties and responsibilities to the best of my ability and with fairness to all parts of the country. Now that they have realized their mistakes, l will only pray to God to forgive us all,” she maintained.
FG disclaims discovered CACOVID palliatives
The Federal government last week disowned the COVID-19 palliatives discovered in a Lagos warehouse, saying the items were not from it.
The government said the inscriptions seen on the back of the items indicated that they were donated by a coalition of some non-governmental organisations.
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in a statement last Thursday, insisted that contrary to the belief in some quarters, the items were not from it.
The statement through Nneka Anibeze, Special Assistant to the Minister,Sadiya Umar Farouq,said the ministry was compelled to speak out with a view to clarifying issues following insinuations that the items were donated by the ministry.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development did not procure, distribute or facilitate the distribution of palliatives under the Ca-Covid initiative. “The ministry therefore wishes to inform the general public that it has nothing to do with the items found in that Lagos warehouse.”
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