*Says his government will never lie or deceive people
By; BAYO AKAMO Ibadan
Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde on Wednesday, disclosed that the state government will distribute 40,000 bag of rice to 200,000 household in the state as fuel subsidy removal palliative
Engineer Makinde said this while speaking at the flagging off/symbolic presentation of food items to residents of Oyo administrative zone at the mini stadium, Oyo town,
He declared that Oyo State adopts the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER) because it is better compared to palliatives as household finances will be positively impacted in the long run through SAfER, saying, the
state government ” is more concerned about the long term sustainability of its action towards fight against the ongoing economic hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal”
” Some people have been going round on radio and social media asking where is the 3,000 bags of rice that the federal government gave to Oyo state, others are saying federal government gave them 5 billion naira, they’ve embezzled our money. Some other people even said there is no trust, there’s trust deficit between the government and the people, is that how it is in Oyo state? he said
Engineer Makinde added, ” The government of Oyo state, your government will never lie or deceive you about anything going on. We are one of the first states to announce that federal government gave us 3000 bag of rice. I stated this in my newsletter on the 10th of August because we plan to distribute this food relief package to 200,000 household”.
According to the governor, Oyo state government committed more resources to the provisions made for distribution because the 3,000 bags of rice given to the state by federal government was insufficient to circulate the projected number of poorest of the poor given the prevailing economic situation.
Governor Makinde said the state went further to procure additional 37,000 bags of rice as well as beans, gari, cassava flour, and vegetable oil from local markets across the various administrative zones including Oyo, Ogbomoso, Oke-ogun, Ibarapa, and Ibadan as a way of ploughing back state funds into its local economy.
” We’re here to deliver your SAfER package to you. When I checked the dictionary meaning of palliatives, it focus on symptoms, we want to attack the roots but one thing about sustainable action is that it takes proper planning and strategy.If it were only the 3000 bag of rice the federal government gave to us that would be distributed to 200,000 household, maybe one person may not get more than a tin cup of rice.
” So, we took our time to plan because both in the short and long term we’re thinking about securing our economy. We bought an additional 37,000 bag of rice to add to the 3000 bag the federal government gave to us making a total of 40,000 bag of rice. That is why each of the 200,000 household will be getting 10kg bag of rice”.
The governor stressed ” We didn’t stop there, we also procured for each household, 5kg bag of beans, 5kg bag of gari, 5kg bag of cassava flour, and one bottle of vegetable oil. But one thing I want you to know about what we’re distributing is that we’re distributing what we produced locally apart from the rice.”
Governor Makinde listed other framework covered under SAfER to include ‘Agropreneurs (food security) food security), health, transportation, adding that his administration will continue to prioritize the welfare and well-being of the people.
The symbolic presentation of food items to residents was attended by top government functionaries, traditional leaders led by the ‘Adele Alaafin of Oyo, Bashorun of Oyo kingdom, religious, community, and political leaders.
