As another 14-day lockdown period begins, the Lagos State Government has announced additional palliatives for residents, saying it will in a couple of days commence a daily ‘Food Kitchen’ program.
Governor Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu, who disclosed this while giving an update on COVID-19 on Tuesday, said that the food kitchen program, largely targeted at youths, seeks to feed about 100,000 people daily.
He added that the measure is aim at ameliorating the inconvenience occasioned by the extended lockdown.
President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered an extension of lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun state by further 14 days and the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continued to rise.
There are 343 confirmed cases of the virus in Nigeria as at last Monday night.
“We are identifying local food vendors who will pilot this program and ensure that the process of cooking and serving of the meals adhere strictly to public health guidelines,” he said.
The governor also said that the state will soon commence cash transfer to a minimum of 250,000 indigent citizens.
“We are cleaning up our data from our various social registers to get a clean list of truly vulnerable and economically challenged persons to enable us remit some cash to them. We aim to do these cash transfers by the end of the week to a minimum of 250,000 indigent citizens,” he added.
Commenting on the welfare package for indigent and vulnerable segment of the society that was rolled out during the first set of stay-at-home directive, Sanwo-Olu confirmed that some hitches were encountered along the way, but noted that the process had since been revised.
“We have since revised the process and have now seen a marked improvement in the distribution of the relief packages, with the distribution being carried out in a dignifying manner that is fully compliant with all public health directives and guidelines.
“In the first and second phase of the program, we were able to reach over 200,000 households which include the vulnerable, physically challenged and the elderly.
“During this time as well, we were also able to feed a large number of the organized informal sector; junior members of the military and police force in Lagos; as well as minimum wage earners in the State’s public service,” he explained.
He disclosed that over 18,000 people have accessed free medical services in the state within the lockdown period while over 600 childbirths have been recorded, all free of charge.
The Lagos state governor also issued an order to security agents in the state to release all impounded vehicles arrested for minor traffic offences from March 1, 2020 to date.
He said the directive takes effect following the end of the first 14 days lockdown.
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