L-R: Representative of the Awujale of Ijebuland and Orimolusi of Ijebu-Igbo, Oba Lawrence Adebajo; the Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle; the Alake and Paramount Ruler of Egbaland, Oba Micheal Adedotun Gbadebo with the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun during a stakeholders’ engagement on palliatives distribution at the June 12 Cultural Center, Kuto, Abeokuta
By Nudoiba Ojen
Ogun State has purchased 100 trucks load of rice to be sold at cheaper rates to residents of the state to cushion the effect of the rise in the prices of goods in the country.
The state governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, said that the rice would be subsidized and made available at the rate it was before the recent astronomical rise in the prices of the commodities.
Abiodun, who made the disclosure at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta, the state capital, on Thursday, said the poor, the elderly, and the vulnerable would enjoy free allocation.
He said, “We have decided to give our people foodstuffs like rice, garri, beans. I have ordered almost 100 trailers of rice, they will start offloading them tomorrow (today).
“We have decided that the poor, the elderly, and the vulnerable will be given the rice free of charge, while others will have to buy the rice at the price we formally bought it before the dollar rose very high so that it won’t be a one-off and we can continue till the issue of the dollar is settled,” he said.
Governor Abiodun, who assured Ogun State people that President Bola Tinubu is fully in charge, said,
“Everything we are experiencing at the moment is very transient, it will soon pass away. I am convinced that President Bola Tinubu is fully in charge. He knows what he is doing.
“With the plan that he has begun to implement, you will soon begin to see the change. We must remain very hopeful. The last meeting I had was with the CBN Governor. He said I should quote him and tell you that, very soon, the dollar will crash,” he said.
Abiodun noted that his administration, in realization of the present hardship facing the country, took some steps to cushion the effect, even as he recalled that an intervention worth more than N5billion was announced by his administration last week.
Tertiary students of Ogun State origin across the country will receive N50,000 each, the governor said.
The secondary and primary school category with about 800,000 students, Prince Abiodun noted, will be done in phases, with the first phase, comprising 100,000 students getting N10,000 each.
Those not captured now would get five exercise books while waiting for the next phase.
The governor said women and the elderly would benefit from free medical care with insurance cards worth N18,000.
Abiodun further noted that his administration would set aside about N500million monthly to offset the payment of deductions for civil servants in the state public service.
He urged Nigerians, especially the youths not to allow themselves to be used by unscrupulous elements to disrupt the peace of the country.
“It is now so bad that they have planned to use our youths, give them money to disrupt the peace of the country by staging protests.
“What we going through isn’t what other countries around the world haven’t also experienced. But they were very patriotic, calm because they know the solution is on the way,” he said.
