As Benue continues to suffer from widespread hunger and stagflation, President Bola Tinubu’s government has ordered food donations to the Benue people.
Specifically, the National Emergency Management Agency donated 1,005 tonnes of grains to the Benue State government. Speaking at a ceremony in Makurdi on Thursday, the Executive Director of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, said the grains were among the various food items in the 42,000 tonnes of National Strategic Stockpile released by Tinubu.
Umar said the food items released included maize, millet, sorghum, and garri. Umar, a representative of the humanitarian agency, reported that the people of Benue have received 897 metric tonnes of maize (equivalent to 17,940 bags of 50kg each) and 108 metric tonnes of garri (translating to 4,324 bags of 25kg each) following the food distribution.
She said the Federal Government had a distribution system that had to be adhered to, adding that all local governments must receive equal shares of the grain.
Ms Umar said, “Please note that membership of the Committee in each LGA is made up of the chairman of the LGA, the State Emergency Management Agency, a traditional ruler, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.”
“Others include religious organizations (JNI and CAN), the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, the Nigerian Red Cross, women organizations, disability organizations, youth organizations, boarding school trustees, civil society organizations, and the media.”
The NEMA boss further said, “It is worthy of note that based on the allocation table, Benue State has been allocated 897MT of maize (17,940 bags of 50kg) and 1O8MT of garri (4,324 bags of 25kg).”
“Also, based on the directives of Mr. Vincent President, 20 percent of the food items due for each LGA should be given to religious organizations (JNI & CAN) and 3 percent to be given to boarding schools in the LGAs.”
Governor Hyacinth, who received the grains, commended Mr Tinubu for his continued support to the poor in the country. The governor noted that the state government is working tirelessly to ensure that Benue State will soon be able to feed its people and the world.
Mr Alia said the government was working tirelessly to encourage Benue people to return to farming for better produce by supporting them with improved seedlings and farm inputs.
