The Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Hon Adewunmi Onanuga, has distributed food items to 12000 constituents, to cushion the hardship being faced by Nigerians as a result of fuel subsidy removal.
Onanuga representing Ikenne, Sagamu and Remo North Federal constituency, in the National Assembly, began the distribution on Monday through Wednesday, in the three local government areas that constituted her federal Constituency.
The lawmaker, while speaking with newsmen said the palliatives which consisted of food items, such as rice, beans and gaari were parts of the palliatives by the Federal government to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
She explained that the palliatives were given to widows, people with disabilities, the aged and the less privileged.
The lawmaker said, “We are targeting about 12,000 persons. The federal government in its wisdom made the arrangement for the people in each constituency, wards and polling units to benefit from the palliatives to cushion the effects of the subsidy until things get better in the country.
“We have tried our best to make sure that we get to everybody in this constituency.
“We consider the widows, the aged, the less privileged, disabled people and also the young ones first.”
Onanuga lauded the federal government for the initiative, saying the gesture would reduce the burden of the people.
She, however, called on the federal government to gear up efforts towards combating insecurity challenges across the country.
“We must also get security right. Once we have the security situation right, people will be able to go back to their farms and once they are able to go back to their farms, we will have stability in food production and agriculture,” she added.
Dr Patience Ajayi, the State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in her remarks expressed satisfaction with the conduct and distribution of the items.
She said, “Something paramount in the heart of the President is food security and the first step is alleviating the already bad situation of the populace and that is why this palliative is being distributed on the instruction of the President that everybody should be given something. It is a palliative not to solve the problem, but just to reduce the food scarcity that we are all experiencing now in Nigeria.”
