This policy is practically spelt out as a way of intentional extortion and embezzlement of our hard-earned taxpayers’ money
Dapo Abiodun’s Palliatives Policy; The Biggest Joke Of All Time | By Mawutin Imoleayo Deji
It is to my surprise that report from the purported stakeholders meeting held by Mr. Governor yesterday was all a one-way report.
In a statement released on the official page of Mr. Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun was quoted saying “In light of the current situation, we have decided to provide our citizens with essential food items such as rice, garri, and beans. I have arranged for nearly 100 trailers of rice to be delivered, with offloading beginning tomorrow.
To ensure fair distribution, we have decided that the elderly and vulnerable will receive the rice free of charge, while others will be able to purchase it at the original price before the increase in the value of the dollar. This will allow us to sustain the initiative until the dollar issue is resolved” the statement reads.
Surprisingly, the Governor and his policy team seem like playing hide-and-seek games with us in the state. Have they forgotten that Ogun State has the highest number of tertiary institutions in the country, which translates to a high level of intellectual exposure?
How on earth will the Governor now publicly say “nearly 100 trailers of rice”? Are there no figures of bags?!, the word “nearly” means no specification in quantity to be supplied.
We are in this situation as a nation because our past leaders trusted some people with the affairs of our economy, I am sure Mr Governor is also trusting some misguided people with this kind of sensitive policy.
“Rice will be distributed, Rice will be sold”, where is the room for accountability, when we don’t even have a figure for the total rice sourced? How much was a bag of rice sold before the increase in dollars?!, all of this information was not made available which amounts to the whole intervention being very shady; lacking merit and transparency which is further borne down by the fact that Mr. Governor is practically playing with us. A Policy of the Government such as this, shouldn’t be done on assumptions without clarity.
This policy is practically spelt out as a way of intentional extortion and embezzlement of our hard-earned taxpayers’ money and the Governor must write a query to those behind this ill-planned policy.
Also, who are the Elders and Vulnerables to benefit from the free rice?! How was the list of Elders and Vulnerable people sourced for and compiled?! When will this policy end?! How much is budgeted for this intervention?! Where will the funding come from?! Who are those saddled with the responsibility to oversee this intervention?! Is the “nearly 100 trailers of rice” locally produced rice or foreign rice?! These are questions begging for answers.
Interestingly, Ogun State rice farm in Eggua is still laying with no input to revival and I don’t remember if Ogun State has rice farms anymore. And if these “nearly 100 trailers of rice” are being sourced outside our shore, then this is an intervention aimed at killing our economy and sabotaging our naira further.
Mr. Governor should as a matter of urgency cancel this ill-planned policy, we should be thinking of production rather than adding more problems to the market, this is not the solution for the good people of Ogun State, as only a few in government will benefit from this at the expense of the larger populace.
Majorly, instead of thinking of this reckless intervention; Ogun State has vast, fertile and arable land for agricultural purposes. We can take advantage of this to produce what we eat; as this would provide food security in the state instead of injecting artificial relieves to the state targeted at stealing our money.
If you’re truly concerned about us as a state, then Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seedlings can give us positive results for short-term solutions while we face the real long-term solutions on the contrary. You can achieve this by declaring a state of emergency in the agricultural sector in the state while each Local Government Areas initiate a cage operation in their respective areas for bountiful and heavy agricultural inputs while you fully optimize our farmers with the needed supplies.
Mr. Governor, I truly want to see you do better! At this crucial time, your decision to pay pensioners their arrears and civil servants owned deductions is a good initiative but a good amount should be committed to this payments which means an increase in the total package compared to what you have done prior to increment in the federal allocations and other bailout funds; as this would also serve as an avenue for them to have enough funds to go back to their farms and assist the government rescue the food insecurity in the state and the country as it would also bring relief and succor to people’s suffering at this trying time. It’s no longer news that there’s an increase in monthly FAAC allocations to all states courtesy of subsidy removal and also Mr. President’s intervention measures to arrest the ailing economy and food insecurity. In the past few days, another 30 billion naira was said to have been released to all state Governors, if this is true, then these are the funds that should be put to proper use in the state and not just to squander for an ineffective short-term solution.
In Ipokia Local Government, there are need to open our rural roads by making them motorable to aid rural-urban movement and unstressed movement of food items from our villages to various markets. The deplorable condition of our roads has also contributed to the food crises when farmers can’t move their goods without getting spoilt and their vehicles getting stuck. Graders are needed to open our rural roads for easy movement of foodstuffs to the centre.
Sadly, all the said funds from the central purse that should have been put to practical use to boost our agricultural sector as a state to arrest food crises are now being targeted by some disgruntled government officials who don’t care about the masses. Mr. Governor, I don’t know why you have chosen to milk the masses to feed your fat-belly cronies but as for me, I want to see you succeed and I want to see my state get out of this food insecurity in no distance time.
*Mawutin Imoleayo Deji, a revolutionist and a youth stakeholder, writes from Ipokia Local Government
