Economic hardship: Obaseki tasks FG on transparency to address hunger, scarcity
From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has urged the federal government to be transparent in addressing the current economic hardship in the country.
He made this appeal during the official launch of the 2nd Phase of the Edo State Food Support Programme (Christian Feeding Programme) in Benin City.
Mr. Obaseki said the problem with political leaders is that they lack transparency, leading to a lack of trust from citizens.
“I think what you are seeing today, the way this group has organized themselves, you were in the warehouse to see the transparency with which they have run this programme.
“Compared to what the federal government claims they are spending on palliatives, this is a drop in the ocean, but if we did things properly in this country, what we have would go a long way.
“We know there are challenges. The current leadership, we are not helping ourselves and we are not helping Nigeria,” Obaseki said.
Obaseki added that the federal government could learn from Edo State’s management of limited resources to support thousands of families.
“Look at how we have run this programme. I hope the federal government will come and take a clue. This is what I always argued; people know what they want.
“We made the resources available, got them to organize themselves, and see how they procured. They procured from the local markets, thereby increasing the amount of business the locals are doing.
“See how they have re-bagged the products, managed the transportation cost, and from the little we have given them, see how many families—50,000 or more families—it will reach.
“And what we have given is just a drop in the ocean compared to what the federal government claims they are doing. It is about transparency, honesty, and our willingness to serve the public good and not private interests.
“That is the challenge today. It is not that we don’t have hardship and difficulty all over the world. The world is currently challenged, but the solution is for the government to come out clean and transparent so that the people will trust them and work with the government to get out of the problem we face and not play games.
“It is unfortunate that we are where we are, and I believe we can come out of it. I am pleading that we don’t take actions that will make our situation much worse than it is today.
“In the next few days, we will be going around, talking to our citizens to see how we can resolve this problem. Let us not do things that dig us deeper into the rot and mess that we face today,” Obaseki said.
The state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Gen. Dr. Irekpono Omoike, while commending the governor for all his achievements in the state, said 60,000 bags of rice were distributed in the first phase of the programme, and the second phase has 56,250 bags.
He said out of the 56,250 bags of 10kg rice, 21,875 will go to Edo South, 15,625 to Edo Central, and 18,750 bags to the Edo North Senatorial District of the state.
