General News
REV. Fr. Christian Anokwuru, the Special Adviser on Policies and Interventions to Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, has said that intentional planning remains key to successful and seamless distribution of government palliative materials.
Anokwuru said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Wednesday.
He specifically said that proper organisation, constitution of an all-inclusive committee and creation of a monitoring mechanism were measures used by the Abia Government to ensure effective and smooth distribution of the recent Federal Government’s palliative to Abia.
“First of all, when palliative items came, the governor constituted a committee from the Executive Council at the state level.
“The committee involves non-governmental agencies, including the representatives of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Christian Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Teachers and Persons Living with Disability, amongst others.
“At the Local Government level, we also set up similar all-inclusive committees.
“We also come down to the wards and share the items according to the 164 political wards in the state,” Anokwuru said.
According to him, the community leaders, women leaders, youths and major stakeholders were usually included in the sharing process.
“So, that has been the key to our success in distributing palliative items without rancour,” he said.
Anokwuru said that the government evolved a template on how the palliative should be shared and ensured that it is used at the various levels.
He said that the government prioritised the poorest of the poor in distributing the items.
He said that efforts were being made to enumerate the poor people in the various communities so that the next sharing would be delivered directly to the beneficiaries.
He suggested that the distribution of palliative should not to be taken to churches or schools to prevent people from getting double portions.
“We believe that everybody comes from a community, and we know that everybody would be captured during the distribution at the various communities,” Anokwuru said.
The clergyman said: “The governor issued a stern warning to the committee to avoid the mistakes of the past, where politicians hijacked government’s palliative materials meant to cushion the harsh effects of its policies on the masses.
“He even threatened to expose and make any office holder that tampered with the palliative to face the full weight of the law,” he said.
Also in Imo, respondents blamed the incessant deaths and stampedes during distribution of palliative to poor management, lack of proper planning, incompetent organisers and failure by all the people involved to learn from past experiences.
The Programme Director, Serene Society Initiative, an Imo-based non-governmental organisation, Mr Basil Ejigini, faulted the management of the distribution process, especially in states where stampede and deaths were recorded.
“For me, the problem is the way it was managed.
“Rather than facilitate the distribution at a particular place for multitudes, decentralising the distribution at the various local government areas or communities was a better option.
“If they really want to give the palliative to the poor, churches can also be used to help checkmate stampede,” he said.
He pointed out that vulnerable people that needed the palliative lived in rural areas, hence distributing the items in communities would ensure that each community got its own share.
Ejigini, who is also the Deputy Coordinator, Imo People Action for Democracy, frowned at governments’ choice of distributing palliative to cushion the effect of harsh economy.
“When developments and enabling environments are created for businesses to grow at the rural areas, there would be no need for such palliative.
“Most times, these palliative turn out to be ways for siphoning funds by government officials, which is why they don’t really focus on distribution safety measures,” he said.
Contributing, a Good Governance advocate and social commentator, Mr Chibundu Uchegbu, blamed failed distribution exercises on the lack of strategic planning and incompetent organisers.
Uchegbu further attributed the reason for stampedes and deaths during palliative distribution on the failure by organisers to learn from past mistakes.
“Carryung out distribution smoothly without casualties suggests proper planning by appropriate hands.
“Such an emergency situation as distribution of palliative requires the appointment of competent people based on their capacity,” he said.
Uchegbu also underlined the significance of conducive environment to ensure proper spacing of people during such exercises.
“Again, there must be sincerity. How can you share 500 bags of rice to 5,000 persons in a single location?
“This is why we advocate for distribution at settlements, communities or LGAs,” he said.
Uchegbu expressed worry when asked to assess the process of palliative distribution in Imo.
He queried: “How can you make an assessment of palliative items shared to only 37,000 workers as against over 6.7 million people in the state?
“As far as I am concerned, there was no palliative distributed in Imo.”
For the lawmaker representing Oru West state Constituency, Mr Dominic Ezerioha, setting out modalities and descriptions before distribution of palliatives to the people will prevent stampedes or deaths.
“When I give out palliative, what I usually do is to call out members of my constituency at a place and give to them directly while leaders and security operatives stayed to observe.
“We arrange them in separate orders, along with the items, according to wards, villages and kindreds, so they get their shares directly without any fight or stampede.
“But by the time you give the itema to leaders to share, it usually ends up in unpalatable outcomes,” Ezerioha said.
The lawmaker, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Judiciary, Imo State House of Assembly, said that sometimes, organisers of the exerciae arrange with some people to cause chaos to help them divert the items to their personal use.
“Some of them plan with people to cause problems.
“Instead of distributing a trailer-load of rice, for instance, they would share one bus-load and then arrange with some people to cause problem and disrupt the process.
“By so doing, they claim that the trailer load got missing during the period of chaos.
“It is such a mischief, unfotunately, that often leads to stampede and deaths,” he said. (NAN)
4th April, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Gov. Alex Otti Rev. Fr. Christian Anokwuru
