Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has disclosed that 210,000 households will benefit from a special palliative programme in Kaduna State. He made this known at a press briefing, which held on 21st August 2023 in the Government House Kaduna.
The Governor stated that, the palliative intervention became necessary to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and revealed that so far, the sum of N2b has been released to the Kaduna State Government.
Governor Sani highlighted the measures his administration had put in place to ensure judicious use of the funds. He said, “To ensure effective implementation, I convened a stakeholder meeting comprising of Government Officials, representatives of trade unions, persons living with disabilities, market and transport unions, and the private sector, amongst others. The meeting was essentially convened to agree on the methodology for the utilization of the palliative funds received from the Federal Government.”
Additionally,the Governor announced that he had approved the three phases of the recommendations made by the meeting. “The First Phase (Short Term) will be devoted to distribution of food items to households.”
Governor Sani explained that the distribution of the 43,000 bags of 50kg rice palliatives will benefit 210,000 households, with special consideration given to people living with disabilities, widows and the elderly.
He added that, “Where applicable, other poor and vulnerable households, orphanages and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)Camps, will also be given special attention”
The Governor stated that “A Committee headed by Local Government Chairmen, comprising of LGA staff, organised labour, representatives of the private sector, faith-based organisations, youth and women organisations would be constituted and charged with the responsibility for planning and distribution of palliatives at the LGA level, including identification of beneficiaries as stipulated.” He explained that the distribution of the food items would be proportionate to the size of the population in each Local Government Area.
On the issue of monitoring, the Governor assured that a Monitoring Committee would be constituted for each LGA to guarantee transparency in the conduct of the exercise and to ensure that the intended beneficiaries are reached.
In the 2nd phase of the palliatives intervention , the Governor stated the following:
a) Procurement of Buses by the State Government which will ensure introduction of subsidised road transportation on major routes with high number of commuters within Kaduna metropolis, Zaria and Kafanchan.
b) Procurement of fertilizers and its distribution to small-holder farmers across Kaduna state.
c) Financial support to Micro, Small and Medium Businesses through the Kaduna Markets Development and Management Company (KMDMC) and Kaduna Enterprise Development Agency (KADEDA) who will draw up a list of these small-scale traders/enterprises.
For the 3rd Phase, the Governor explained that, his administration is making efforts to resuscitate the Locomotive Train from Zaria to Kaduna, and from Sabon Tasha to Kafanchan in a bid to provide citizens with affordable means of transportation.
While calling on the citizens to give maximun support and cooperation to the Implementation Committee to ensure a seamless exercise, the Governor warned that, “the full weight of the law will be visited on anyone who attempts to divert the palliatives meant for the people or tries to disrupt the exercise.”
The NLC Chairman, Kaduna Chapter, Comrade Ayuba Sulaiman, while speaking at the briefing commended the Governor for the inclusive approach by engaging with key stakeholders in the distribution of palliatives to the people of Kaduna State .
Comrade Sulaiman also lauded the committee for prioritizing the most vulnerable and underserved groups as beneficiaries of the palliative interventions.
Signed
Muhammad Lawal Shehu
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Kaduna State
22nd August 2023.
