The Federal Government had doled out 20 trucks of rice to the 36 states and the FCT as part of its sustained efforts to ramp up food supplies in the country with a view to further bolstering food security. It was also part of the Federal Government’s synergy with the sub-nationals to lessen the current hardship being faced by Nigerians.
This hardship was aggravated by the persistent food insecurity and ever-surging food prices.
However, with the recent bumper harvests in parts of Nigeria, Nigerians are heaving a sigh of relief, although there are palpable fears that the happy development may be temporary.
Some residents of Kaduna metropolis have lamented not receiving the Federal Government’s rice allocated to the state governments to cushion the hunger currently faced in the country.
Some of the residents said they only heard about the rice on the news.
Salisu Musa, a resident of the Rigasa area, said he and his family did not benefit from the rice, adding that he has not heard of anyone close to him that got the rice.
He said: “As s a traditional title holder in Rigasa community, we have not seen any rice from the Federal Government. However, we have received fertiliser and we appreciate it.”
Similarly, Ibrahim Yusuf, a resident of Doka area, said he has not received the rice but has heard that some few bags were taken to a Mosque in the area.
He also acknowledged that fertilisers were shared in his area and numerous people had benefitted.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council, on August 15, received some bags of rice from the Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA).
The group had announced that it had received 2,400 bags provided by the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
Mr. Muhammad Ibrahim, one of the journalists who benefitted said the rice was shared to faith-based organisations and journalists, among others, adding that he got a 25kg bag of rice.
Also, in Kaduna State, some residents in parts of Chikun Local Government Area have complained of not getting the relief items to cushion the effects of the food crisis from the state government.
The few persons, who confirmed that they received some food items from the state officials, said the quantity was insignificant. They also blamed some of the community leaders in charge of the distribution of the palliatives of being biased and not transparent.
However, a cross section of the residents in the city said they were yet to receive any item from the state officials in that regard.
One of the residents, Mrs. Asabe Markus, claimed she had not received any palliative. She, however, opined that the items were only distributed to residents with political affiliation to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Since the food crisis began, I have been struggling to survive by relying on the support of friends and loved ones, who have food items and cash in abundance.”
Mrs Rakiya Hadi, another resident, said she was only privileged to receive two measures of rice, which were distributed by a community leader. “My friend who is a community leader gave me two measures of rice, how can that feed a family for just a week?” she queried
Hadi said the leader had to distribute the food item secretly to avoid commotion by the residents as the grain was not enough for all the people.
Another resident, Mr. Audu Mallam, said nobody in his street around KASUPDA Road in Sabon Tasha, has benefited from the palliatives. “During the COVID-19 period, information was passed for the people to collect palliatives at the government schools, but as of now, no one is saying anything.”
Mrs. Grace Waziri, another resident of the state, described the exercise as a ‘charade,’ adding that the government was not being sincere with the people with the palliatives.
She disclosed that she has not received any relief item from the government, noting that a few of her friends, who are civil servants, had collected such items from the office.
“Two of my friends who are civil servants showed me what the state government distributed as palliatives. It was very ridiculous and insulting. So, it’s clear that they are only sharing the palliatives to people who do not really need it and keep on lying that they have distributed food to vulnerable residents,” he said.
In Kafanchan, some of the residents said they were yet to receive any rice palliatives from the Federal Government.
The residents made this known in separate interviews in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area. Marta Maigari, a retired civil servant, said though she read in the media about the Federal Government’s donation of 20 trucks of rice to each state, nothing of such had reached the people of Kafanchan.
“We have not seen any rice from the Federal Government here in Kafanchan. I say so because I always keep myself abreast of happenings, so I would have known if the government had gotten here,” she stated.
Maigari stated that the hardship faced by families and individuals at this time calls for decisive and compassionate action.
Godwin Kumai, coordinator of Jema’a Community Development Charter, a civil society organisation, said no rice palliatives from the Federal Government have been received and shared at the local government level. He explained that only bags of fertiliser from the state government were currently shared to some vulnerable people in the area.
A top official of the local government, who spoke on condition of anonymity concurred with Kumai.
He stated that the local government was yet to receive any rice allocation from the Federal Government.
“I don’t know if the state government has taken delivery of the items donated by the Federal Government. But as for us here in Jema’a Local Government Area, we are yet to receive anything from the centre through the state,” he added.
In Zaria, there were mixed reactions by different sources in the council over the distribution of the palliatives.
The Technical Assistant to the Council Chairman on Strategic Communications, Alhaji Bello Habib, said the council received 600 bags of maize and millet as intervention from the state government.
He explained that the 600 bags had been distributed to the 547 polling units across the 13 wards of the council.
“Each polling unit got one bag and the remaining bags were shared to the boarding secondary schools in Zaria.
“The beneficiary schools were Kufena College, Al Huda-Huda College, Barewa College and Government Girls’ Secondary School Zaria,” Habib said.
However, Habib declined to speak on the rice palliative to the council from the Federal Government.
Mohammed Abdullahi, a resident of Unguwar Fatika Area, Zaria, said he was not aware of the distribution of any rice from the government.
Similarly, Haruna-Rasheed Musa of Kakaki area, Zaria, said he did not receive any intervention from either the state or local government.
Aliyu Idris-Ibrahim, Chairman, Zaria Local Government Council, did not respond to calls and messages put on his cellphone on how the council distributed the Federal Government’s rice palliative.
Malam Aminu Bello, a resident of Layin Zomo area, Basawa Ward, Sabon Gari Local Government Area, said he did not receive any support, be it rice, maize or fertiliser from the government.
A source at the Sabon Gari Local Government which craved anonymity said a trailer load of rice was only seen at the secretariat.
“The trailer went out of the council secretariat to an unknown destination with the rice,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed Usman, chairman, Sabon Gari Local Government Area, did not respond to calls and messages sent to his cellphone.
Sources at Giwa and Makarfi LGAs said the councils did not receive the rice from the government as at the time of filing this report.
However, all efforts to get the comments of Hajiya Rabi Salisu, Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development proved abortive as she was said to have travelled out of Nigeria.
In Katsina State, a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Katsina State, in a statement by Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdullahi, pledged to ensure that the rice distributed to the state by the Federal Government is shared to the targeted beneficiaries.
The state government had constituted a committee to oversee the distribution of the rice on July 29, and gave it a three-week deadline to submit its report.
The committee’s terms of reference were to ascertain and confirm the number of bags received, and develop a procedure for sharing the rice across the 34 local government areas.
The committee would also ensure that the distribution of the palliatives is done in a fair and transparent manner, targeting vulnerable individuals such as widows, divorcees, aged men and women, among others.
Abdullahi, chairman, Katsina Social Protection (SP) Network, said they were keenly monitoring the committee, as it was presently compiling the names of the beneficiaries.
He stated that the state and LGA levels committees were already formed and the CSOs have representation in all the committees across the 34 local governments.
“The SP network will leverage on the LGAs structures of the coalition of the CSOs in the state and monitor the implementation of the distribution and report their findings.
“The findings will be worked on and we will come up with our position at the end of the exercise,” according to Abdullahi.
The main committee at the state level was headed by the Secretary to the Government of the State, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba-Faskari.
Members of the committee, including the Special Adviser on Public Service Administration Reform, Commissioners for Special Duties and Information.
Others were the representative of the State House of Assembly, Managing Director of the state Irrigation Authority, Executive Chairman, Zakat and Waqf Board, Commander, Hisbah Board and the ALGON Chairman.
The remaining were representatives of the Police, DSS, Katsina and Daura Emirate Councils, as well as that of the JIBWIS and Darika Islamic sects, the Youth Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Youths Congress and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
Meanwhile, in Kano, the state government said it has distributed 130 trucks of foodstuffs it received as donation from the Federal Government to the beneficiaries across the 44 local government areas.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Danjuma Mahmud, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, said in Kano on Wednesday that the donation consisted of 40 trucks of 25kg rice,70 trucks of maize, millet and sulphur.
According to him, the food items were delivered at the headquarters of the 44 local governments for onward transportation to wards, villages and districts.
He said the beneficiaries of the gesture included Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), traditional rulers and religious leaders.
Others were the officials of the 44 local government areas, the state Hisbah Commission, the Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The commissioner also disclosed that the state government had received 70 trucks of fertiliser from the warehouse of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) located in Minna, Niger State.
Also collected from the warehouse, he said, were 30 trucks of urea.
He said the state government was now awaiting directives from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources on how to distribute the fertilisers to the farmers.
