Palliatives: JISOP Urges Government to Consider Vulnerable, Not Only Party Stalwarts
From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
A coalition of Civil Society Organizations, media, and academia in Jigawa state, known as the Jigawa Social Protection Platform (JISOP), has called on both state and national governments to prioritize vulnerable groups over party stalwarts.
The plea was articulated in a statement issued by the Chairman of the platform, Comrade Shuaibu Musa Kafingana, and shared with journalists in Dutse, the state capital.
The statement applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Malam Umar Namadi for providing food assistance to over 28,000 individuals in the state.
It acknowledged the commendable efforts of the federal and Jigawa state governments in distributing palliatives to approximately 30,000 people in the state.
According to the statement, “the distribution of food items comes at a crucial time when many underprivileged individuals were struggling due to the high cost of food items and the impacts of recent flood disasters.”
Comrade Shuaibu Musa Kafingana remarked, “An impressive aspect of the program is the substantial contents of the aid package provided to each beneficiary, which includes a 25kg bag of rice, 12 packets of spaghetti, and a 10kg bag of maize, sorghum, or millet.”
“The platform has observed and recommended that the distribution should extend beyond party stalwarts, emphasizing that the government must ensure that only deserving individuals benefit from the assistance,” he added.
“We urge that such distributions should not be limited to party stalwarts alone. Many people in Jigawa are currently living below the poverty line, with earnings of less than N3,000.00 per day,” he emphasized.
The JISOP chairman also highlighted, “To further illustrate, a survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2022 and 2023 revealed that 133 million Nigerians are living below the poverty line, with earnings of less than $2 per day.”
The statement disclosed that “Based on poverty rankings by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the World Bank, Jigawa is reported to have a poverty rate of 87.02%, making it the third-highest after Taraba and Sokoto States.”
“Part of the issue lies in the fact that deserving individuals are often overlooked in many government poverty alleviation and empowerment programs due to the actions of politicians and officials responsible for program implementation.”
He further urged governments to prioritize justice and fairness in every program by strictly ensuring that assistance reaches the intended beneficiaries in order to achieve the desired objectives.
