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Adewale Sanyaolu
Aged and vulnerable citizens in Lagos state got the shock of their lives yesterday when news filtered in that hopes of benefiting from the 200, 000 Emergency Food Response package announced by the State Government may have dashed with the alleged diversion of much of the items by some officials responsible for their distribution.
The senior citizens and poor household scarthered across the state were excited when Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu launched the stimulus package of one pack of 5kg rice, 5kg garri, 3kg beans, two loaves of bread and 200g of dry pepper to indigent households and communities on March 27. But barely 11 days after the launch, prospective beneficiaries are alleging, lopsidedness, favoritism and diversion as some of the action that may have truncated the scheme.
In separate interviews with Daily Sun, some of the beneficiaries who pleaded anonymity said they had received text messages on March 30, 2020 from the Lagos State Government on the stimulus package but alleged that they have yet to receive the items. Some of the text messages sent to our correspondent by some of the beneficiaries read in part ‘‘Dear Mr./Mrs. Oduwole(not real names), The Lagos State Government has chosen you as one of the registered residents to benefit from the State’s ‘Emergency Food Response Package’. Kindly reply with ‘Food Yes’ if your Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) registered address is still valid for delivery of the package. Thank You’’
But according to some prospective beneficiaries spread across various Local Government and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) alleged that the distribution of the stimulus package to would -be beneficiaries has been hijacked by the leadership of the Community Development Associations (CDA).
They lamented that the officials of the Lagos State Government rather than deliver the packages directly to the addresses on the text messages earlier sent to them decided to go through CDAs, who in term never delivered the items to the receipts.
In other instances, they alleged that the CDAs in delivering the package to the recipients went a step further to repackage the items to smaller quantities.
One of the beneficiary in an interview with Daily Sun said ‘’It was an embarrassing situation in my estate when beneficiaries converged at a location to be sharing rice in cups and tins. They did same for pepper and other items in the original package. That was when it dawned on me, that people are really suffering because they were scampering over food items that cannot feed their families for a day.
I had to walk away from the venue because it was such an unfortunate scene. To the glory of God I have more than enough to eat courtesy of my children.
But because I got a text message, I felt the need to be there. I think the Lagos State Government should intervene and bring the culprits to book,’’ she said.
Another beneficiary who spoke to Daily Sun in confidence said it appears that politicians have hijacked the food package intervention and are now distributing same among political party loyalists, families, friends and relatives to the detriment of the targeted group of aged and vulnerable.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of LASRRA, Adeola Akinwunmi-Ekine, said the agency was only responsible for sending data of registered Lagos residents who fall into the category of aged and vulnerable to the Ministry of Agriculture.
