The National Emergency Management Agency has announced the delivery of 24,180 bags of 50kg maize and 5,828 bags of 25kg garri to the Akwa Ibom State Government. According to the agency, the grains will be distributed to the state’s vulnerable people.
The Director General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, announced the delivery on Wednesday in the state capital Uyo. The DG, represented by the Akwa Ibom Head of Operations, Mrs Mmandu Aisueni, disclosed that the delivery of the products was part of the president’s commitment to easing the level of hardship being witnessed in the country.
The representative directed that the commodities should be shared in communities through committees in each local government that the authorities would constitute. According to her the member of the commoties should be Chairman of the Council, State Emergency Management Agency, and a traditional ruler, among others in each of the local government areas in the state.
Explaining the sharing ratio, the DG explained that 20 per cent of the food items due for each LGA should be given to religious organisations (JNI & CAN) and three per cent to be given to boarding schools in the LGAs, stressing that each LGA should receive equal items.
The DG further disclosed that the president had approved the release of 42,000MT of assorted food commodities from the National Strategic Reserve under the Custody of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. According to her, the food items include maize, millet, sorghum, and garri. She noted that after the sharing by the government, the quantity delivered was for Akwa Ibom state.
The DG disclosed that after the delivery, the food items should be given to deserving persons in the communities.
She noted that the quota distributed to the state was 1,209 MT of maize, 24,180 bags of 50kg, and 145.1 MT of garri, 5,828 bags of 25kg.
The commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development in the state, Dr Offiong Offor, received the items on behalf of the state government and expressed satisfaction with the distribution. She appreciated the Tinubu government’s intervention.
According to him, the distribution will aid the people in fighting high food prices in the state and the country. She expressed commitment that the government would try its best to ensure adequate distribution of the food items to the deserving beneficiaries.
