Lagos Council Gives Cowry Cards to Staff for Free Transportation
Bennett Oghifo
Agboyi-Ketu Local Council Development Area, Lagos has cowry cards to staff for free transportation to help them cushion the excruciating impact of the petrol subsidy removal.
The council had also distributed food items as palliative to over 17,500 residents. The gesture, tagged: ‘We-lift Food Bank Initiative,’ saw thousands of beneficiaries gathered at Arowosegbe Primary School Compound, Alapere, one of the distributing centres.
Chairman of the council, Dele Oshinowo, said the initiative was in line with the programmes of the federal and Lagos state governments.
Oshinowo, represented by the council’s Vice Chairman, Mrs Folake Kayode, described the programme as successful.
He said: “You can see that I have lost my voice trying to control the crowd; it has not been easy. We have a mammoth crowd here and they have been here since morning. We are doing our best to ensure the food items go round.
“We have sorted out the elders, the pregnant women and those with disabilities. We did all those ones earlier before allowing other groups into the school compound. What we give out are Rice, Garri, Yam and Beans and each beneficiary has a choice of choosing any two from the food items.”
The council chief said provision was made for 2,500 packs of foodstuffs for each distribution centre.
Oshinowo said: “We have seven wards and the distribution is going on simultaneously in all those seven centres. We will continue this gesture as long as the effects of fuel subsidy removal bite hard. The decision to remove the subsidy is a painful one that we must as a nation take to move forward. There is nobody that is not feeling it but we know that after it is for a better tomorrow. It is just like gold. Before gold can be turned to something worthwhile, it would have gone through the goldsmith who will put it in the fire.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu meant well for Nigerians. All those developed countries -America, United Kingdom and France, among others, have passed through this difficult stage. It is our own time to take that difficult decision for our future to be better. Nigeria will get there one day.”
A beneficiary, Hamzat Agboola thanked the council boss for the palliative. “We were given rice and we really appreciated it and were happy about it. The subsidy removal really affects us and we are praying for the government to cushion the effect and come up with measures to bring the situation under control,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Mrs Kemi Esan, wants the government to fix the moribund refineries, saying it would make the fuel available and cheaper. “I have four kids; it is not easy coping with their school fees and other expenses. We pray God should intervene with what is happening in Nigeria and that is why we came to line up here since morning. My kids have not eaten since yesterday, which is why I struggled to be here this morning.
