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Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government, yesterday, donated 6,000 bags of rice to Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states, as palliatives against the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people.
Mrs. Helen Ngozi, area controller, Oyo and Osun Command, delivered the 6,000 bags of rice on behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to representatives of the four states at the service’s zonal headquarters in Ibadan.
Ngozi said the gesture was in fulfiment of the promise by the management of the customs to send palliatives to states to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the people.
“Each of the four states, with the exception of Ondo, will receive 1,800 bags of parboiled rice, while Ondo will get 600 bags,” she said, adding that Ondo would get the balance of 1,200 bags from the Lagos office of the NCS.
She said the rice was good for consumption, as the customs would never mix expired rice with good ones.
Mrs. Olaide Lasisi, the state coordinator, Oyo State Operation Coordinating Unit (SOCU), received the bags of rice for onward handover to representatives of the four states.
SOCU is the coordinating arm of the World Bank-assisted Youth Employment and Social Support Operation (YESSO).
Lasisi said the rice donation by the Federal Government was to assist the beneficiary states in their respective efforts to give palliatives to Nigerians, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on behalf of the four states, executive adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on agribusiness, Dr. Debo Akande, and the commissioner for agriculture in Oyo State, Mr. Jacob Ojekunle, said the donation was a laudable gesture from the Federal Government.
Akande said the rice would go a long way in cushioning the negative effects of the stay-at-home order necessitated by coronavirus pandemic in the states.
He also gave the assurance that the items would be equitably distributed, stressing that those who should benefit from the gesture would get it. Ojekunle called on private organisations and individuals to emulate the gesture of the Federal Government by making donations to assist the underprivileged.
Representative of Osun State government, Dr. Bode Olaonipeku, commissioner for commerce in Osun, and Mr. Kolawole Kayode, Special Adviser on Development Partnerships to Ekiti State governor, were also present.
However, Ondo State government was not represented during the handover of the bags of rice.
Meanwhile, governors of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Bauchi are set to share their COVID-19 experience at the sixth teleconference of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), today.
Director-general of the Forum, Asishana Bayo Okauru, in a statement, said the meeting was to review the COVID-19 situation so far and the various measures by state governments at various stages of the virus incursions into the country.
Okauru’s invitation asked the governors to prepare to discuss the journey so far and provide state-by-state updates on the dominant issue of the season.
“Four states, including Bauchi, Ogun, Lagos and Oyo, will be invited to share their experiences with the rest of the country.
“The National Economic Council ad hoc committee and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-18 are also expected to make presentations before the governors at the Wednesday meeting,” he said.
The meeting, which starts at 2pm, will also deliberate on palliatives to the most vulnerable and how the federal and state governments are collaborating on the pandemic and the type of assistance that the President would be rendering to states.
