•We aren’t expecting any consignment after the one received in March – Lagos
•Taraba, Delta, Niger, Plateau, Zamfara and Abia: No food palliative received in July
•We got it – Kano, Oyo, Akwa–Ibom, Rivers, and Bayelsa
•The rations we got were a far cry from what we expected – Cross-River monarch
By Olasunkanmi Akoni, Peter Duru, Wole Mosadomi, Demola Akinyemi, Femi Bolaji, Marie-Therese Nanlong, Steve Oko, Bashir Bello, Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo and Idris Salisu
There seems to be confusion over the 740 truckloads of rice the Federal Government promised to deliver to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) at the rate of 20 truckloads each last month (July) to alleviate the hunger in the land.
Whereas officials of some state governments said the consignment had arrived and shared to residents, officials of some told Sunday Vanguard they were still expecting the consignment.
But the twist to the story came from Lagos where a top official said the only consignment of palliative they received from the Federal Government was in March and that they were not expecting any fresh delivery.
States which said they had not received the rice palliative as of late week include Taraba, Delta, Niger, Plateau, Zamfara and Abia.
Meanwhile, if the Lagos situation is to apply, then the states claiming not have received the consignment may never get it if they received any in March.
The Minister of State for Steel Development, Uba Maigari, had, penultimate Wednesday, asked residents to hold their governors as the Tinubu administration had provided remedial measures to stem hunger in the country, including the distribution of rice and fertilizers.
Maigari spoke in Jalingo, Taraba State capital, on the sidelines of a town hall engagement with stakeholders ahead of the protest against hunger and hardship in Nigeria.
“The president directed the release of rice and fertilizers in large quantities directly to state governors, whether they are PDP, APC, or APGA”, he said.
“I think you should, as journalists and professionals, do your job by asking state governors, starting from our brother here.
“He has taken delivery of fertilizers the Federal Government sent to governors, and there is also rice delivered to governors across the country.
“These are some of the remedial measures, including the new minimum wage which has just been signed into law, before the long-term economic programmes and policies of government begin to benefit all”.
In Benue, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, James Iorpuu, declined comment.
Of the states monitored on the weekend, only Kwara, Katsina, and Kaduna claimed to have received the truckloads of rice.
Sunday Vanguard had earlier reported that the rice consignment had been received in Kano, Oyo, Akwa–Ibom, Rivers, and Bayelsa states, among others.
The rice palliative was arranged to ease the hunger affecting poor people, one of the reasons Nigerians trooped out in protest against the government on Thursday and Friday.
Critics, however, say the measure was not enough to address the hardship occasioned by the downturn in the economy.
The Federal Government had, about four weeks ago, precisely, Monday, July 15, said it had allocated 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT, Abuja.
Each state, including the FCT, under the arrangement, was expected to get 20 trucks containing 1,200 bags of 25kg each and the rice was to be distributed to the most vulnerable in the society.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister, who was flanked by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said that the President directed the Minister of Agriculture to ensure that food is made available to Nigerians.
He explained that the distribution of trucks of rice was also to ensure that the hardship in the country was ameliorated, adding that it was expected that the state governors would distribute the trucks of rice to the most vulnerable.