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The Federal Government released 44,656 bags of grains for distribution to poor and vulnerable households in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Dr Mariya Mahmoud, Minister of State, FCT, stated this on Thursday in Gwagwalada while handing over the food items to the six Area Councils for distribution to poor and vulnerable households across the territory.
Mahmoud said that the food items consisted of 23,996 bags of 25 kilogrammes (kg) of rice, 4,680 bags of 50kg of maize, 13,920 bags of 50kg of sorghum, 1,100 bags of 50kg of millet and 960 bags of 25kg of gari (cassava flakes).
She said that the gesture was to address the biting food shortages affecting Nigerians, particularly poor and vulnerable households.
According to her, the support will bring relief to poor households struggling to have a square meal a day due to the current economic hardship in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
The minister commended the federal government for the gesture, stressing that it would no doubt alleviate the burden of scarcity and high cost of food items on poor Nigeria.
She assured them that necessary security measures had been taken to ensure seamless distribution exercise to the targeted beneficiaries.
She appealed to residents to conduct themselves in a responsible and orderly manner, and cooperate fully with the distribution teams for the success of the exercise.
“For any meaningful development to be sustained, due attention must be placed on the welfare of our citizens.
“To achieve this, we have placed priority on re-invigorating the agricultural sector, which is crucial to achieving our collective quest for food and nutrition security.
“The FCT Administration had already commenced the distribution of essential agricultural inputs to farmers to ensure a successful planting season and bountiful harvest towards improving food supply.
“We will continue to work assiduously to create a safe, secure, and enabling environment that fosters agricultural investments and ensures that no resident of the FCT goes hungry,” the minister said.
Earlier, the Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency, Hajiya Zubaida Umar, said that the food items were part of the 42,000 metric tonnes of grains being distributed across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
Umar said that the gesture was in fulfilment of President Bola Tinubu to reduce the economic hardship being experienced across the country.
She said that the grains would be distributed through constituted committees in the six Area Councils of the FCT.
She added that in line with the directive of President Tinubu, 20 per cent of the grains were earmarked for religious organisations and three per cent for boarding schools in the area councils.
On his part, Mr Lawan Geidam, Mandate Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, commended President Tinubu, for his visionary leadership and foresight in addressing the scourge of hunger among poor Nigerians.
Geidam identified some of the beneficiaries to include poor and vulnerable households in the six area councils, Joint Union Action Committee, religious organisations and 17 Graded Chiefs of the FCT.
Others, he said would include Civil Society Organisations, widows, orphanages, persons with disabilities, leprosy colonies, Bwari Rehabilitation Home, and internally displaced persons.
Geidam promised strict supervision to ensure that the food items reached the most vulnerable members of the community.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Ladi Douglas, a mother of three, said that food support would significantly reduce hunger among poor households.
Douglas, who received a 50kg bag of maize, commended Tinubu for the support, stressing that it would help her to feed her family.
Another beneficiary, Mr Victor Joshua, who got a 25 kg bag of rice, described the gesture as life-saving, saying that his family hardly fed twice a day.
“But this will change with this food support. I am really grateful,” Joshua said. (NAN)
By Philip Yatai