Non-indigenes discriminated against in palliatives distribution -NGO alleges

Say No Campaign (SNC) Nigeria has raised an alarm alleging that non-indigenes were discriminated against in the distribution of the COVID-19 palliatives in Kuje Area Council of the FCT. The Co-convenern Say No Campaign Nigeria, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, made the claim on Sunday in a report made available to Daily Trust. According to him, the […]

Say No Campaign (SNC) Nigeria has raised an alarm alleging that non-indigenes were discriminated against in the distribution of the COVID-19 palliatives in Kuje Area Council of the FCT.

The Co-convenern Say No Campaign Nigeria, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, made the claim on Sunday in a report made available to Daily Trust.

According to him, the Minister of State FCTA, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, has been flagging off distribution across the area councils of the FCT assuring that all area councils will be receiving 100,000 bags of rice and same number of bags of condiments each, as part of the FCTA’s effort to cushion the stay-at-home order to contain the spread of the new coronavirus in the FCT.

Nwagwu said so far, Abaji, Kwali and recently Kuje have all received and shared their allotted items, which according to the minister, was 100,000 bags each in all the councils.

“While Abaji and Kwali have recorded a fairly equitable distribution among community members, Kuje, according to the reports we have gathered through our anti-corruption network, has failed at ensuring equal distribution, either in the quantity of items given to each household or in determining the beneficiaries of the palliatives.

“Similarly, the process of distribution has been less commendable as materials for each ward were handed over to their councillors who failed to communicate to community members on the modalities for sharing or when actual distribution to members would begin.

“After a long wait by community members in their houses and others in open fields, in some wards, the councillors and other distribution officials finally began sharing randomly after reducing the content of the packages and only prioritising indigenes,” Nwagwu claimed.

He said non-indigenes who are resident in Kuje were reportedly discriminated against and that the distribution officials later realised that the items were not sufficient for the entire households in their wards.

He said that brought to question the credibility of the process of distribution, and raised issues of transparency and accountability over the palliative items received.

“Beyond the minister’s announcement of 100,000 bags of rice and 100,000 bags of condiments, there were no known means of proving or verifying such as the actual number delivered or distributed in each area council.

“It has also been observed that the relief items were not distributed based on the beneficiary list earlier drafted, which was meant to document the most vulnerable in the community. This list was discarded, hence, indiscriminate sharing was carried out initially and later restricted to the indigenes,” he said.

Nwagwu said that is highly unacceptable and the method of discrimination should not be tolerated in any community of the FCT or in Nigeria, especially at this time.

He, therefore, urged the Minister of State FCT to take extra care to ensure that palliative items are not politicised and that clear modalities for distribution should be forwarded and monitored to ensure due compliance and to ensure equity and justice throughout the process of distribution of the palliative items.

Reacting, the chairman of the palliative distribution committee in Kuje, Mr. Sunday Zaka, described the allegations as baseless, saying both natives and non-indigenes benefited from the palliative.

He said: “Now for example, in Kuje Central ward, the non-indigenes are more than the natives and we have been able to ensure that the palliative got to each house-hold,” he said.

According to him, the committee ensured that out of the 25,000 bundles, about 8,803 reached each house-hold in the ward, which he said the non- indigenes benefited from.

“And after we discovered that Kuje Central ward has the highest population across the 10 wards, we decided to give one condiment and three kilogram of rice of to each household just ensure that it goes round. So the allegation that the palliative was shared among the natives was a pure lie,” he added.