President Bola Tinubu has attributed cases of stampede at palliative distribution centers in Nigeria to poor planning, rather than economic hardship.
Tinubu while speaking at a media chat in Lagos on Monday evening, argued that the multiple stampedes which have claimed over 60 lives were not a reflection of widespread hunger as claimed by many critics of his administration.
He said there is hunger everywhere citing examples of food banks in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Backstory
Last week, stampedes in Oyo, Anambra, and Abuja at palliative distribution events organised by private individuals, claimed over 60 lives and left many severely injured.
- The first incident occurred in Ibadan, where 35 children were killed in a stampede that took place at a children’s party in the Basorun area of Oyo State on Wednesday.
- This was followed by another stampede on Saturday in Anambra when a crowd of people scrambled for bags of rice distributed by a philanthropist. This reportedly claimed about 20 lives.
- A third incident happened also on Saturday during a palliative distribution event by the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Maitama area of Abuja. This claimed not less than 10 lives.
- Many commentators and opposition politicians attributed this to widespread poverty and hunger in the country.
Presidential candidates, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, and Omoyele Sowore blamed poverty induced by policies of the current administration for the stampedes.
Tinubu’s response
When asked to react to the stampedes during the media chat, the president blamed the organisers of the palliative distribution events for their poor planning.
He said he had been giving palliative at his residence in Bourdillon for the past 25 years and had not experienced such because he had been “organized and disciplined.”
Tinubu said, “It is good to give. I have been giving out foodstuff commodities, including envelopes, in Bourdillon for the past 25 years. I have never experienced this kind of incident because we are organized and disciplined. If you know you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to or even publish it.
“Every society, even in America, they have food banks. In Britain, they have food banks and warehouses. But they are organized, they always stand in line and take turns to collect free food,” he noted.
What you should know
The President had his first media chat since his inauguration in May 2023. The chat held in Lagos where he currently is for the Yuletide break.
The President said he had no regret over his economic reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.
He further argued that removing the fuel subsidy was a form of addressing the corruption in the subsidy regime.
