The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde has revealed that distribution of palliatives to 200,000 vulnerable households in the state will commence next week.
He made this disclosure in a letter to Oyo State residents from Kigali, Rwanda, while attending the three-day leadership retreat for the 36 State Governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
What he said
In his words, he said:
- “We will be taking to ensure that our economy continues to run optimally despite the removal of fuel subsidy, we have been working hard to deliver on our promise.
- “We created committees and sub-committees as part of the implementation process. Now, I am happy to inform you that the planning process is drawing to a close, and we are ready to begin the full implementation of SAfER.
- “In the next week, we shall begin the distribution of the Food Relief Package to 200,000 vulnerable households in our State. Some have asked how we created and updated our social register that contains details of these households.
- “Well, we put together the register during the COVID-19 pandemic. We deployed trusted representatives to communities in every part of our dear State. They met with and spoke to community heads who helped to identify the vulnerable in their midst. After this, we did a further verification of the data.
- “As we begin the distribution across the 33 LGAs in the state, you will see for yourself how thorough the work is.
- “We are distributing to each household 10kg of rice as well as 5kg each of beans, garri, and elubo and a bottle of groundnut oil. So, if you spot any funny business in your community, remember you can always reach out through this newsletter or any of the other feedback channels we have made available to you”.
Makinde also revealed during the meeting that the Oyo State government has decided to “Earmark an additional N500 million as loans to smallholder farms in the state through the Agricultural Credit Corporation of Oyo State (ACCOS)”. He added that these low-interest loans to farmers will target farmers who may not be reached with the distribution of inputs to 10,000 farmers as earlier announced.
According to the governor, the profiling process of YEAP beneficiaries with already established businesses who would benefit from the N500 million for enterprise support will soon be complete.
Makinde added that youths, artisans, and traders who would be supported through the N500 million set aside for small businesses would be contacted within the next two to three weeks.
The Oyo State governor also disclosed that his administration will continue to do more for his people as more funds become available.
His words:
- “We will continue to do more for our people. Recently, the Federal Government announced a facility of N5 billion for state governments.’’
