It was gathered that no fewer than 1,200 bags of rice were distributed to 6,000 households in the Akoko South East Local Government Area of the state, where the programme was flagged off.
Speaking at the programme in Isua Akoko, the headquarters of the council area, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mrs. Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, stated that the food palliative will reach the targeted beneficiaries in the state.
Bamidele Ademola-Olateju said the government was aware of the hardships the citizens were facing and had put arrangements in place to ensure all the target beneficiaries were reached.
According to her, the palliatives were part of the delivery taken from the Federal Government and the one paid for by the state government.
She said, “Today, we are kicking off the distribution of palliatives to Ondo State residents and it happens that the four local government areas in Akoko are the first to be distributed.
“There will be five people to a bag of rice and here. We have trucks coming in to take the palliatives to various towns in Akoko South East comprising Ipesi, Sosan, Ifira, Epinmi, Isua among others. We have 1,200 bags of rice for Akoko South East (LGA) and we are targeting 6,000 households in the local government.”
Ademola-Olateju noted that religious groups, market women, and traders associations among others would benefit from the palliatives.
“We have selected the most vulnerable households but based on our experience while we are drawing the list, we have seen that we will go very far. We have Muslim community, Christian Association, Market women, traders association, tailoring association, and Iyalojas among others.”
In his remarks, a member of the state House of Assembly, Suleiman Babatunde, representing Akoko South East Constituency commended the gesture.
“As a representative of the people, I am glad that this is happening in my local government. I would like to thank the federal government in conjunction with the state government for providing these palliatives.
“I also thank the state for prompt action and delivery of the palliatives. We carried along traditional worshipers, traditional rulers, Christian and Muslim groups, artisans and most of the segments that make up our community in Isua. These are the people who produced the list with us that we will distribute. The process was free and fair,” he said.
