The Federal Government has released over 700 metric tonnes of grains to Ekiti as part of measures to mitigate the effects of astronomic increase in the prices of food commodities.
The state Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye, said this during the handing over of the grains by National Emergency Management (NEMA) on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti.
Afuye, who received the items on behalf of Governor Biodun Oyebanji, said the grains, principally maize and garri, would be distributed to the vulnerable groups.
According to her, the items comprised of 12,000 bags of maize and 3,008 bags of garri.
The deputy governor lauded President Bola Tinubu and Oyebanji for their partnership that had yielded enormous dividends for Ekiti people.
“The state government recently distributed 20,000 bags of rice and garri, not just to the vulnerable, through their respective wards, faith based societies and even to civil servants.
“The governor also approved certain funds to victims of fire accident as collated by the State Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
“This attest to the fact that the partnership between the governor and Federal Government’s agencies is yielding dividends for our people.
“We will make sure these materials get to the targeted population to justify the purpose for which it was released,”she said.
NEMA’s Director General, Mr Zubaida Umar, said a total of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains, comprised of rice, garri, sorghum, and millets, had so far been released by Tinubu’s government to 36 states for this purpose.
Umar, represented by NEMA’s Southwest Zonal Director, Mr Stephen Adewale, stated that the Federal Government was aware of the negative effects of the current economic hardship hence the gesture.
Umar said the food items would be shared equally to all the local councils in Ekiti.
“Based on the directives of Mr President, 20 per cent of the food items due for each LGA should be given to religious organisations, and 3 per cent to be given to boarding schools,” he said.(NAN).
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