Kano, Kaduna, Katsina residents accuse states of diverting FG’s rice palliative

Some residents of Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states have said they had yet to receive the rice recently donated to states by the Federal Government.

Recall that the Federal Government doled out 20 trucks of rice to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

The initiative was part of the FG’s sustained efforts to ramp up food supplies in the country 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 aggravated by the persistent food insecurity and ever-surging food prices occasioned by some economic policies of the government.

However, with the recent bumper harvests in parts of Nigeria, Nigerians are having a sigh of relief, though there are palpable fears that the development may be temporary.

Some residents of Kaduna metropolis 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 who spoke during an interview said that they only heard about the rice in the news.

A resident of the Rigasa area, Salisu Musa, 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 the gesture.’’

Similarly, a resident of Doka area, Ibrahim Yusuf, said he has not received the rice but 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, Kaduna State Council, on August 15 received some bags of rice from the Arewa Youth Assembly.

The group announced that it had received 2,400 bags from the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.

One of the beneficiary journalists, Muhammed Ibrahim, said the rice was shared to faith-based organisations and journalists, among others, adding he got a 25kg bag of rice

Also, in Kaduna State, some residents in parts of Chikun Local Government Area complained of receiving the food item to cushion the effects of the food crisis from the state government.

A few persons, who confirmed that they received some food items from the state officials, said the quantity was too 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 had yet to receive any item from the state officials in that regard.

One of the residents, Asabe Markus, claimed she didn’t receive any palliative from the government.

She, however, stated that the food items were only distributed to residents politically affiliated to the All Progressives Congress.

She said, “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.’’

Also, a resident, Rakiya Hadi, said she was only privileged to receive two measures of rice 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 a week?,”she said.

Mrs 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, Audu Mallam, said nobody on his street around KASUPDA road In Sabon Tasha, benefited from the government’s rice palliative.

He said, “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.”

Another resident of the state, Grace Waziri, described the exercise as a ‘charade,’ adding that the government was not sincere with the people with the palliatives.

She disclosed that she didn’t receive any relief item from the government, noting that few of her friends, who are civil servants, collected such items from the office.

Waziri said, “Two of my friends who are civil servants showed me what the state government distributed as palliatives. It was 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.”

In Kafanchan, some of the said residents also said they had yet to receive any rice palliatives from the Federal Government.

The residents made this known during separate interviews in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area.

A retired civil servant, Marta Maigari, said though she read in the media about the Federal Government’s donation of 20 truck of rice to each state, she noted that nothing of such reached the people of Kafanchan.

She stated, “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’s rice palliative got to the community.’’

Maigari stated that the hardship faced by families and individuals at this time called for decisive and compassionate action.

On his part, Coordinator of a civil society organisation, Jema’a Community Development Charter, Godwin Kumai, said no rice palliatives from the Federal Government was shared to those in the council area.

Mr Kumai explained that only bags of fertiliser from the state government were shared to some people in the area.

A top official of the local government, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed with Mr Kumai’s position.

He stated that the local government had yet to receive any rice palliative from the Federal Government.

He added, “I don’t know if the state government has taken delivery of the items donated by the Federal Government. But as for use in Jema’a Local Government Area, we have yet to receive anything from the central government through the state.’’

In Zaria, there were mixed reactions by different residents in the council over the distribution of the palliatives.

The Technical Assistant to the Council Chairman on Strategic Communications, 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.

Mr Habib said, “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.’’

However, Mr Habib declined to speak on the rice palliative to the council from the federal government.

A resident of Unguwar Fatika Area, Zaria, Mohammed Abdullahi, said that he was not aware of the distribution of any rice to residents 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.

Chairman, Zaria Local Government Council, Aliyu Idris-Ibrahim, did not respond to calls and test messages pto his mobile on how the council distributed the Federal Government’s rice palliative.

A resident of Layin Zomo Area, Basawa Ward, Sabon Gari Local Government Area, Aminu Bello, said he did not receive any support in form of rice, maize or fertilizer from the government.

A source at the Sabon Gari Local Government which spoke on condition of anonymity stated that a trailer load of rice was seen at the secretariat.

The source said, “The trailer went out of the council secretariat to an unknown destination with the rice.’’

Chairman, Sabon Gari Local Government Council, Mohammed Usman, also did not respond to calls and messages sent to his mobile.

Sources at Giwa and Makarfi LGAs said the councils did not receive the rice from the government as of the time this report was filed.

However, efforts to get the reaction of the Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Raniu Salisu, were futile as she was said to have travelled out of the country.

In Katsina State, a coalition of civil society organisations pledged to ensure that the rice distributed to the state by the Federal Government was shared to the targeted beneficiaries.

The coalition Chairman, Abdulrahman Abdullahi, stated this during an interview in Katsina.

Recall the state government inaugurated 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 was done in a fair and transparent manner, targeting vulnerable individuals such as widows, divorcees, aged men and women, among others.

Mr Abdullahi, who is also the Chairman, Katsina Social Protection Network, said that the state was monitoring the committee presently compiling the names of the beneficiaries.

He stated that the state and LGA levels committees were already formed and the CSOs had representation in all the committees across the 34 local governments.

He added, “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.’’

The main committee at the state level was headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Abdullahi Garba-Faskari.

Members of the committee included 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 members also included representative of the police, DSS, Katsina and Daura Emirate Councils, and JIBWIS and Darika Islamic sects, the Youth Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Youths Congress and civil society organisations.

Meanwhile, in Kano State, the state government said it 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 and the commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, made the disclosure in Kano on Wednesday.

Mr Mahmud said the donation consisted of 40 trucks of 25kg rice,70 trucks of maize, millet and sulphur.

He noted that 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 food items included civil society organisations, traditional rulers and religious leaders.

Others were the officials of the 44 local governments, state Hisbah Commission, the police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

The commissioner also said that the state government received 70 trucks of fertilizer from the warehouse of the Central Bank of Nigeria located in Minna, Niger State.

He added that 30 trucks of urea were also collected from the warehouse.

He said the state government was now awaiting directives from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources on how to distribute the fertilizers to the farmers.

( NAN)