We’re yet to receive FG’s rice - Residents of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina lament

They also blamed some of the community leaders in charge of the distribution of the palliatives for being biased and not transparent.

Some residents of Kaduna, Kano and Katsina States say they are yet to receive the rice recently donated to the states by the Federal Government.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Federal Government had doled out 20 trucks of rice to the 36 states and the FCT.

NAN also reports that this was part of its sustained efforts to ramp up food supplies in the country to further bolster 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.

This hardship was aggravated by persistent food insecurity and ever-surging food prices.

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

Some residents of Kaduna metropolis have 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 to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that they only heard about the rice on the news.

Salisu Musa, a resident of the Rigasa area, said he and his family did not benefit from the rice, adding that he had not heard of anyone close to him who got the rice.

He said, “As a traditional title holder in the Rigasa community, we have not seen any rice from the Federal Government.

“However, we have received fertilizer and we appreciate it.”

Similarly, Ibrahim Yusuf, a resident of the Doka area, said he had not received the rice but had heard that a few bags were taken to a Mosque in the area.

He also acknowledged that fertilizers were shared in his area and numerous people had benefitted.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Kaduna State Council, had on August 15 received some bags of rice from the Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA).

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

Muhammad Ibrahim, one of the journalists who benefitted said the rice was shared with faith-based organisations and journalists, among others, adding he got a 25kg bag of rice

Also, in Kaduna state, some residents in parts of the Chikun Local Government Area have complained of not getting the relief items to cushion the effects of the food crisis from the state government.

The few persons, who confirmed that they received some food items from the state officials said the quantity of such was too insignificant.

They also blamed some of the community leaders in charge of the distribution of the palliatives for being biased and not transparent.

However, a cross-section of the residents in the city said they were yet to receive any item from the state officials in that regard.

One of the residents, Asabe Markus, claimed she had not received any palliative so far.

She, however, opined the items were only distributed to residents with political affiliation to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

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 in abundance.”

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

Hadi said the leader had to distribute the food items 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, has benefited from the government’s palliatives.

He recalled, “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.”

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

She disclosed that she has not received any relief item from the government, noting that few of her friends, who are civil servants, had 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 very ridiculous and insulting.

“So, it’s clear that they are only sharing the palliatives to people who do not need it and keep on lying that they have distributed food to vulnerable residents.”

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

The residents made this known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kafanchan, headquarters of Jema’a Local Government Area.

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

“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 had gotten here,” she stated.

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

On his part, Godwin Kumai, the Coordinator of Jema’a Community Development Charter, a civil society organisation, said no rice palliatives from the Federal Government have been received and shared at the local government level.

Kumai explained that only bags of fertiliser from the state government were currently shared with some vulnerable people in the area.

A top official of the local government, who spoke on condition of anonymity concurred with Kumai.

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

“I don’t know if the state government has taken delivery of the items donated by the Federal Government.

“But as for us here in Jema’a Local Government Area, we are yet to receive anything from the centre through the state,” he added.

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

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

“Each polling unit got one bag and the remaining bags were shared with the boarding secondary schools in Zaria.

“The beneficiary schools were Kufena College, Al Huda-Huda College, Barewa College and Government Girls’ Secondary School Zaria,” Habib said.

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

Mohammed Abdullahi, a resident of Unguwar Fatika Area, Zaria told NAN that he was not aware of the distribution of any rice 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.

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

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

A source at the Sabon Gari Local Government which craved anonymity told NAN that a trailer load of rice was only seen at the Secretariat.

“The trailer went out of the council Secretariat to an unknown destination with the rice,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed Usman, Chairman, of Sabon Gari Local Government Council did not respond to calls and messages sent to his cellphone.

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

However, all efforts to get the comments of Hajiya Rabi Salisu, Kaduna State Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development proved abortive as she was said to have travelled out of Nigeria.

In Katsina State, a Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Katsina State pledged to ensure that the rice distributed to the state by the Federal Government is shared with the targeted beneficiaries.

The Chairman of the coalition, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdullahi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Katsina.

NAN recalls that the state government had constituted 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 is done fairly and transparently, targeting vulnerable individuals such as widows, divorcees, aged men and women, among others.

Abdullahi, who is also the Chairman, of Katsina Social Protection (SP) Network, revealed to NAN that they are keenly monitoring the committee, as it was presently compiling the names of the beneficiaries.

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

“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,” according to Abdullahi.

NAN reports that the main committee at the state level was headed by the Secretary to the Government of the State, Alhaji Abdullahi Garba-Faskari.

Members of the committee included the Special Adviser on Public Service Administration Reform and Commissioners for Special Duties and Information.

Others were the representative of the State House of Assembly, the Managing Director, of the state Irrigation Authority, the Executive Chairman, the Zakat and Waqf Board, the Commander, the Hisbah Board and the ALGON Chairman.

The remaining were representatives of the Police, DSS, Katsina and Daura Emirate Councils, as well as that of the JIBWIS and Darika Islamic sects, the Youth Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Youths Congress and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

Meanwhile, in Kano, the state government said it has distributed 130 trucks of foodstuffs it received as donations from the Federal Government to the beneficiaries across the 44 local government areas.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Danjuma Mahmud, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Kano on Wednesday.

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

According to him, 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 gesture included: Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) traditional rulers, and religious leaders.

Others were the officials of the 44 local governments, the state Hisbah Commission, the Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC).

The commissioner also disclosed that the state government had received 70 trucks of fertiliser from the warehouse of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) located in Minna, Niger.

Also collected from the warehouse, he said, were 30 trucks of urea.

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.

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