Posted by Samuel on Thu 24th Aug, 2023 - tori.ng
He said it is to help each state government to procure food items for distribution, basically, to the poor and not just to the civil servants.
Amb. Derrick Oritsematosan Agberen, a human rights activist, has told the Governor Sheriff Oborevwori-led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of Delta State that the N5 billion palliative released to states by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is not for civil servants alone.
He said it is to help each state government to procure food items for distribution, basically, to the poor and not just to the civil servants.
In a statement signed and made available to DAILY POST on Thursday, he said the state government has failed to consider that the number of civil servants is nothing compared to the number of unemployed/vulnerable people more affected by the current depressive economic state of the country.
He noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy has negatively affected the prices of goods and services.
“The civil servants even live better lives than the unemployed, than most petty traders, than the old, and other less privileged Deltans,” he said.
He wondered why the state government is channelling the subsidy palliative to the civil servants alone while ignoring the indigent.
“Families can no longer afford three square meals and are also pondering about the demands that will accompany the imminent resumption of primary and secondary schools across the State.
“How will they cope with school fees? How will they cope with the requirements of a new session? It is a depressive time for most families.
“The State Government should demonstrate equal empathy. It should allow equal access to palliative for everyone, living in the State.
“No doubt, the current hardship has pushed a lot of persons into committing crimes at various level, the girl child, for instance, merchandises her body to take care of her needs, and the boy child is gravely engaged in fraud, rituals, and other acts of depravity.
“The plights of Deltans are deteriorating, and abandoning a section of the State at this time is the apex of inhumanity.
“The Delta State Government can pay twenty thousand naira (N20,000) monthly to the unemployed/vulnerable people and poor families in the State for a stipulated period of time or procure food items for distribution to those families.
“This will mitigate the effect of the fuel subsidy removal that has brought nothing but pains and hopelessness on the people. Delta State is for all its inhabitants, not just for the civil servants.”