Obaseki said the present hunger and economic woes ravaging Nigeria are self-inflicted, adding that when he first raised the alarm of imminent economic danger, some people thought he was merely playing opposition politics.
The governor, while launching the initiative at St. Paul’s Pastoral Centre, Benin City, and the Government House, when he met with the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria, and the League of Muslim Imams, respectively, disclosed that the first phase of the programme will capture over 60,000 residents of the state through the five blocks that make up the CAN and the Muslim communities.
He said, “I know that when people are distressed, many might not be able to come to the Government House; they go to the various parishes to meet you to see that you assist them. I am sure that in the last few years of extreme economic hardship, the burden of the church has increased, that is why we want to use the religious bodies for this initiative.
“When we first raised the alarm a few years ago, some people thought we were joking, but it didn’t stop us from getting to where we are. We cannot sit down to lament and complain over the situation we have found ourselves.
“I must say that this initiative will be purely driven by CAN as a body. Our responsibility as a government is to make the funds available and monitor the process to ensure that our goals are met. For the pilot phase, we are making available N1 billion. We will place it in a dedicated account, from where this programme will be carried out by the men and women of God.
“We are going to use this structure you are putting in place to try to reach as many as possible and let them know the economic opportunities that this government is making available, particularly in the areas of agriculture. When we get this agricultural programme going in the next few weeks, we will reach out to you to make the people know the inputs that we can give them, assurance that we will buy all their produce, particularly the ones with protein.”
Earlier, speaking, the Archbishop of Benin Catholic Church, Dr Augustine Akubeze, thanked the governor for nursing the plan of assisting the poor and hungry to cushion the effects of the biting economic situation suffered by Nigerians, citing the Edo people.
The Chairman of CAN in Edo State, Irekpono Omoike, lauded Obaseki, adding that Christian blocs in the state will justify the confidence reposed in them by making sure that the targeted persons are those to benefit.
Also, the Chief Imam of Benin Central Mosque, Abdulfatai Enabulele, led other Imams to the meeting in the governor’s office, commended the governor for the initiative, and pledged the clerics’ support to make the programme work.
