Obaseki Allocates Monthly N1 Billion To Feed Poor Christians In Edo

Governor Godwin Obaseki

GOVERNOR Obaseki of Edo State plans to spend 1 billion Naira every month for the next three months to provide food to the state's needy Christians.

He also stated that there will be a similar scheme to assist Muslims in the state.

The governor declared this on Friday, May 3, at the launch of the first phase of the Edo State Food Support Programme.

The Governor, who expressed concern over the growing number of individuals in the state who cannot afford a single meal per day, stated that he needed to consult with Christian leaders in the state on how to best address the frightening situation.

Godwin Obaseki said in order not to make it look political, he decided not to involve political officeholders, but Christian leaders in reaching out to vulnerable Christians in the state.

The governor, who said that the state government already has data on the vulnerable in the state, stated that the challenge was how to reach them as effectively as possible, thus churches will be used to push the plan.

He said, “I was worried by the rising number of people who cannot afford a square meal in a day. So, I thought to myself how do we solve this problem? This is not politics | told myself.

“I then called the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and others to a meeting and explained to them what I intended to do. So, that's how we put our heads together to come up with this programme.

“I told them this is the amount of money I will be giving you every month is N1 billion. At least, Let us try this for the first three months and see how it goes.”

The governor stated that the program has two purposes. First, it feeds those in need. Second, it will assist the government in gathering further information about the state's residents. This information will be used to create jobs and provide aid to those in need.

Earlier, in his remarks, the Chairman of the Organisation Committee, who also serves as the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Apostle Irekpono Omoike, thanked the governor for the initiative and stated that 10kg of 60,000 bags of rice had been purchased for distribution to the three senatorial districts in the state.

According to Omoike, 27,000 10kg bags will be handed to Edo South's seven local government areas, 15,000 to Edo Central, and 18,000 to Edo North.

The CAN chairman stated that 3,000 bags would be provided to each local government across the 18 local government districts, totaling 54,000 bags, with the remaining 6,000 bags distributed to churches not covered by CAN.