Lagos Govt to distribute food palliatives to 500,000 vulnerable households

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, initiated the distribution of food supplies to 500,000 vulnerable households in the state on Sunday to mitigate the impacts of fuel subsidy removal.

Addressing the event at the Lagos State House in Ikeja, Governor Sanwo-Olu explained that the primary objective of the program was to provide essential food items to vulnerable households in two different ways, News Agency of Nigeria reported.

He stated that the first category would receive bulk food food items such as 50kg of garri, and 100kg of beans.

The second category will provide vulnerable households with food boxes containing 10kg of garri, and 5kg of beans, the Governor added.

Sanwo-Olu highlighted that he was aware of the challenges faced by many Lagosians due to increased transportation costs and higher prices of essential goods following the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.

The Governor pointed out several measures that his administration had put in place to ease the impact of the policy on the vulnerable population, such as a 50 per cent reduction in transportation costs in government-owned buses and free healthcare services for pregnant women in government hospitals.

Governor Sanwo-Olu’s words: “I stand before you all today, deeply aware of the challenges that many Lagosians have been facing with regards to the sharp increases in transportation cost and the prices of essential food items across the state as a direct effect of the policy on the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.

“As a responsive government, we announced a number of measures aimed at ameliorating the effect of the policy on our people, most especially the vulnerable.

“These palliative measures which are already being implemented includes a 50 per cent reduction in transportation cost in the government-owned bus system and free health services for pregnant women in government hospitals among others.

“One of the measures which we announced and being formally flagged off today is the distribution of food items for vulnerable households through the Lagos Food Bank Programme.

“The strategic goal of this programme is to reach 500,000 vulnerable households in the state with staple food items using two methodologies – bulk and individual.

“Bulk food items include (50kg Rice, 50kg Garri and 100kg Beans) for groups, and food boxes (10kg Rice, 5kg Garri, and 5kg Beans) for individual vulnerable households.”

How the food palliative in Lagos would be shared

To ensure transparency in the implementation of this intervention, Governor Sanwo-Olu mentioned the formation of a monitoring committee comprising representatives from various sectors such as religious groups, trade unions, people with disabilities, civil society organisations, youth groups, community development councils, and the Lagos House of Assembly.

The distribution would be carried out in phases among the beneficiary groups to facilitate the process. Each group will be duly informed of the collection date.

Speaking on the scope of the food palliative program, Governor Sanwo-Olu said:

“Overall, this initiative will directly impact 500,000 benefitting households, over 2,500 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises involved in bag manufacturing, food aggregation, packaging, and logistics, while over 25,000 employees of the MSMEs will be indirectly impacted.

“I would like to use this opportunity to solicit for the support of well-meaning and public-spirited individuals and organisations for this programme so that more of our people in need of this intervention can be reached.

“Be rest assured that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure that all items received get to the intended beneficiaries.”