The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has donated palliatives to 1,200 households in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to cushion the harsh effects of the Coronavirus pandemic amongst vulnerable Nigerians.
A statement by the bureau’s Head, Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman, indicated the latest distribution made last Friday at Yimitu Village, a suburb of Apo, was 300 bags of assorted food types to the less-privileged in the second phase of its intervention programmes in the FCT.
On Tuesday, the Bureau embarked on another round of food items, made up of 300 bags of assorted food types to the beneficiaries at Durumi, a suburb of Mpape in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
The Director General of the Bureau, Mr. Alex Okoh, was quoted as reiterating that the privatization agency’s move to embark on the gesture was informed by the hardship Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable people, were subjected to in the face of the lockdown occasioned by the government’s stay-at -home order due to the increasing spread of the pandemic.
Okoh said that the gesture was initiated and supported solely by the management and staff of the Bureau, adding that “contrary to the belief that privatised enterprises in the country are part of the initiative, they (privatised enterprises)’s contribution is to the Federal Government’s Presidential Committee on COVID-19”
He said that in line with the criterion set up for the distribution of the items, preference would be given to widows and single mothers who were targeted to get 60 percent of the items and the remaining 40 percent to the vulnerable in the area.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, one of the community leaders, Nze Leonard Iheanacho, Eze Ndi’Igbo in the area, commended the Bureau for the kind gesture, noting that it was timely as most families in the area had been without food since the lockdown began.
“We can’t believe what we have seen. When we heard the news of the Bureau’s team coming with the food items; we took it with a pinch of salt as such promises in the past have never been fulfilled. But BPE has proved us wrong and we thank the organisation immensely for the gesture”, Iheanacho said.
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