The Delta State Government has announced the setting up of a Food Bank to cushion the effect of the lockdown in the state to stem the spread of Coronavirus.
The state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, announced this on Monday while briefing newsmen after an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee On Managing and Containing The Coronavirus Pandemic In Delta, presided over by the Chairman and Governor of the State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, in Asaba.
Aniagwu, joined by his Bureau for Special Duties counterpart, Mr Mofe Pirah and state Chairman of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) Mr Itiako Ikpokpo, said aside the food bank, all political appointees in the state would forfeit their one month subvention to their offices as contribution to the funds to provide palliatives for the people.
He said committees would also be set up at the state, local government, ward and unit levels to ensure that the food items got to all, especially the vulnerable in the society.
Also speaking, the Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Mr Mofe Pirah said the state government was not going to give cash to anyone, pointing out that what every home needed now was food.
He said government had been receiving food items and different donations from individuals and corporate organisations at its food bank in Ibusa and they would be distributed to the less privileged in the state.
For his part, state ALGON chairman, Malik Ikpokpo recalled that the lockdown began in the state about a week ago, and said the only solution to the virus currently was to check its spread.
Ikpokpo said government was expanding the market hours to between 8a.m. and 2 pm, as applicable to petrol stations because Governor Okowa was concerned about the welfare of Deltans and was working to ensure that in spite of the fact that the situation was not caused by anybody, the effects would not be too hard on the people.
He appealed people at the border towns of Alifekede, Mbiri, Ologbo and Idumuje Ugboko to be vigilant to stop visitors from coming through the borders and put the state at risk.
At the Food Bank, the Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Mofe Pirah, who received the goods on behalf of the state government, expressed gratitude to the donor, Jayta Petroleum and Commodities Nigeria Limited.
He said Mercyland, a church in Warri, among others, had also donated bags of rice, tubers of yams and cartons of noodles, to complement the items already procured by the state government for distribution to the people.
The Group Managing Director of Jayta Petroleum and Commodities Nigeria Limited, Mr Emmanuel Onyenweli Akuba, stated that donating the food items was very important at this period of lockdown to assist the state government in reaching out to the needy in the society.
Nwoko’s Influence and Public Recognition Stand Him Out As The Most...