It is no
longer news that Nigeria’s economy is operating at a recession. With inflation
rate currently hovering at a record 16.5, global oil price falling and the
effects on Nigerians being real and biting, most governments at all levels now
find it difficult to meet up with their wage bills and other necessary
obligations owing to these and other circumstances. These have also badly
affected the people’s purchasing power as prices of essential commodities keep
rising far and above the reach of a majority of the citizenry.
There are
no other incidents to highlight the extent of the reality of hunger in the land
than the petty thefts especially of pots of soup even while on the fire taking
place across the country, there were cases of such thefts reported in several
areas of the city like Tanke, Basin, Offa, Kilanko, Sango etc. In each of these
places, it was reported that, at least, five cases of stolen pots of soup were
recorded in just a week. Rather than steal jewelry and cash, the situation is
so dire that robbers now take to stealing pots of soup. On Sunday, 26th of
June, 2016, at Singer Market, Fagge local government area of Kano state, one
Mallam Yusuf Bala was reported to have left his son as “collateral” for a bag
of rice he “bought” pending when he paid for it that same day. But it happened
that the man never returned as promised and that he actually meant to use his
son as an exchange for the bag of rice.
When
eventually confronted by the rice dealer, Bala confessed that his shameful
conduct was instigated by hunger. The hunger is so much that even our security
agents had to throw decorum to the wind when it was reported that men of the
Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian army engaged each other in a deadly clash
over access to some 25kg bags of rice and semovita being distributed to
citizens in Borno by the state government during the Ramadan period.
This clash
of hunger was reported to have left one officer injured while one lieutenant
Idris was said to have been badly beaten by police officers for instigating the
crisis. It took the intervention of major general Lucky Irabor, the commander
of Opeartion Lafiya Dole, who was called in by the Borno state
Attorney-General, Kaka Shehu Lawal, for order to be restored.
It is for
reasons like these and others that one needs to commend the executive governor
of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, for his recent palliative measures aimed at
cushioning the debilitating effects of economic recession on the people of Ondo
State. Moved by the plight of the people, Dr Mimiko kicked off his food
palliative programme tagged Eto Igbe Ayo targeted at 100,000 women resident in
all the 18 local government areas of the state irrespective of their political
affiliation. This type of initiative is neither new nor a knee-jerk programme
in the state but a deliberate and continuous fulfillment of government
obligations to its citizens in fulfillment of its campaign obligations built
around the Caring Heart Initiative of the governor.
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