500,000 households, journalists benefit as Lagos distributes new batch of palliatives, ‘Ounje Eko’

CITIZENS COMPASS –As part of its ongoing efforts to ameliorate the suffering of Lagosians, Lagos State Government has floated its second pallatives’ scheme to cater for residents of the state including journalists in the state.

Speaking to journalists at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat on Monday,

Representative of the Commissioner for Agriculture, and the Permanent Secretary,

Mrs. Dikirat Oshodi, Deputy Director at the Ministry of Agriculture, Lagos State, supervised the delivery of the food packs to Lagos NUJ.

In her words, ” Our Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is executing this project through the Ministry of Agriculture and we are up to the task.

“This is not the first time such a thing will be happening as we can still recall what Lagos State Government did during COVID-19.

“We had recently done an exercise where we had 25 percent reduction in food prices which lasted seven weeks on Sundays in different locations in Lagos.

“The one we are doing at the moment is to capture five hundred households in Lagos.

“For this exercise, we will be requesting people’s details such as name, address, mobile and LASSRA number.

“There will also be pictures of how the items are being off-loaded and distributed for proper documentation” she said.

On behalf of the Commissioner for Agriculture Miss Ruth Olusanya and Permanent Secretary, Mr.Audu Fatai, Oshodi appealed to Institutions, organisations and associations to effectively distribute the items among their members within the week.

Meanwhile, Reverend (Dr) Stephen Oyinlola, Co-Chairman of Lagos State Governor’s Monitoring Committee led its Committee to Lagos NUJ Secretariat.

He described the distribution process of the palliatives as top notch.

“The process is  smooth, beautiful and better than the first exercise where we had issues with transportation arrangements for loading and disbursement.

He said Lagos State Government was committed to

alleviating the suffering of Lagosians, while citing that the economic challenge was a global issue and not peculiar to Nigeria alone.

Oyinlola said the exercise was being conducted in different parts of Lagos State simultaneously.

According to him, CDAs, market women, artisans, religious organizations and many others have also benefitted from the exercise.

“Our committee is majorly concerned with monitoring the distribution in order to make sure that the palliatives get to the right people and communities where they are needed the most,” he said.

Speaking further, the Co-Chairman of Governor’s Team Lead, said Lagos State was also using other avenues such as health and transportation to also cushion the effects of economic hardship confronting Lagosians.

He pledged that Lagos State Government would float a third exercise if need be.

Reacting to the kind gesture, Mr. Adeleye Ajayi, Chairman NUJ Lagos State Council lauded Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu for deeming it fit to extend the pallatives to Lagos Journalists through the Ministry of Agriculture.

He urged the government to do more, noting that so many people in Lagos State needed attention and support from the government.

Ajayi specially commended Lagos Ministry of Agriculture for their professionalism and creativity towards making the state the envy of others.

Mr.Tunde Olalere, Secretary NUJ Lagos State Council gave the vote of thanks.

“On behalf of thousands of Journalists in Lagos State, we want to say a big thank you to Mr. Govenor and Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture.

“We are proud to be associated with Lagos State and as members of the Fourth Estate, we will continue to beam our  search light on the activities of Lagos State.

Olayide Awosanya, Assistant Secretary NUJ Lagos State Council was also in attendance.