Trucks of Rice Can’t Reduce Hunger & Hardship
The fact that the current administration of President Bola Tinubu continues to test and try approaches to things show that the level of preparation is dismally low. The president said that he was prepare for the job to lead the country, but it’s crystal clear that he has not really understood what it takes to lead the country out of the woods.
After the (announcement of ) removal of subsidy, things became exceedingly unbearable for the helpless citizens of the country. The situations became worsened, several lost their jobs, businesses collapsed and in fact, it was difficult for millions to feed.
In its wisdom, the government released fifty (50) trucks of grains to each of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The bags (or truck loads) of rice were delivered to the state government, who would rather mismanage them as they often do to funds and their internally generated revenue.
Some of the governors, in their own initiative, re-bagged rebranded the bags of rice putting their names and logos of their political parties to the food items. That is not actually the problem. They targeted only members of their political parties in the distribution of the commodities.
Of course, if they had given the food to the most vulnerable in their parties, there wouldn’t be any need to raise eyebrows. The most annoying part of it is that the food landed at the homes of party leaders who regularly take from the largesse from the Lawmakers and other elected leaders.
In a scenario in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, some government officials carried bags of rice to strategic locations including parks, bus stops, markets, drop their loads and zoom off to leave people struggling, scrambling for the grains mixed with sand. They reduced the people to beggars. That’s dehumanizing to say the least.
The federal government ought to have done review of that step it took that time. Feedbacks should be useful in designing policies and programmes for the people. Anyway, what would one expect from the same administration that announced the removal of subsidy on its takeoff?
Mr. Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, announced that the federal government would release 20 trucks of rice to each state to cushion the effects of hardship on the people.
He made this known after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting at the presidential villa, Abuja.
For crying out loud, what’s the essence of that? He said that the vulnerable ones would benefit from the plan. Who are the vulnerable ones? What are the parameters they must consider to pick them? How does the government intend to identify the poorest of the poor?
The plan would fail woefully again, Nigerians will groan more and there won’t be any light at the end of the tunnel.
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