Twenty-four Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and NGOs came together in Kwara on Saturday to demand that they be made part of organisations to distribute government’s palliatives on fuel subsidy removal.
They formed a coalition with Mr Abdurrahman Ayuba as convener and Mr Musa Aliyu as co-convener.
The organisations declared in a statement signed by the duo that they formed the coalition and made the request early to avoid a repeat of the experience of the COVID-19 palliative distribution.
They noted that the CSOs and NGOs were initially not included among monitors and distributors of COVID-19 palliatives, but were later “inadvertently co-opted’’.
The CSOs and NGOs also declared in the statement issued in Ilorin that their interest was specifically in food distribution to the poor and to the vulnerable and the distribution of fertiliser and grains to farmers.
“We also have interest in the N500 million support to petty traders and MSMEs and in the committee to interface with marketers on the need to curb arbitrary fixing of food prices.
“Already feelers from CSO colleagues in other states suggest the steps taken by Kwara are highly commendable and pregnant with positive results,’’ they noted.
The CSOs and NGOs added that they looked forward to a proactive response from government and assured that they remained a dependable partner in the development of Kwara.
Kwara government announced on Monday that it would distribute food palliatives to the poor and the vulnerable periodically to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
The government also approved for the Kwara State Social Investment Programme to activate a N500 million worth of conditional support for petty traders and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
It also announced that it would receive fertilisers and grains from the Federal Government for distribution to farmers to boost food output and security.
The government declared that it would set up a committee to interface with marketers to curb extortionist tendencies as seen in arbitrary fixing of prices of foodstuffs which imposed hardship on residents.