To cushion the effect of the rise in the prices of goods in the country, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor has disclosed his government plans to sell rice at subsidized rate it was before the recent astronomical rise in the prices of the commodities. 100 trucks load of rice has been purchased and to be sold at cheaper rates to residents of the state,.
Governor Abiodun made this known at a stakeholders meeting in Abeokuta, the state capital, said the poor, the elderly, and the vulnerable would enjoy free allocation.
We have decided to give our people foodstuffs like rice, garri, beans. I have ordered almost 100 trailers of rice, they will start offloading them tomorrow (Thursday). He said, We have decided that the poor, the elderly, and the vulnerable will be given the rice free of charge, while others will have to buy the rice at the price we formally bought it before the dollar rose very high so that it wont be a one-off and we can continue till the issue of the dollar is settled,
The governor assured the people that the current hardship is for a short time. Everything we are experiencing at the moment is very transient, it will soon pass away. Let me assure you, the meeting we had on Tuesday and today Wednesday after I left that meeting, I am convinced that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is fully in charge. He knows what he is doing. With the plan that he has begun to implement, you will soon begin to see the change. We must remain very hopeful.”
Governor Abiodun also told the people that they would soon hear good news about the value of the national currency. Hear him: The last meeting I had with the CBN Governor. He said I should quote him and tell you that, very soon, the dollar will crash.”
Abiodun noted that his administration in realization of the present hardship facing the country took some steps to cushion the effect, even as he recalled that an intervention worth more than N5 billion was announced by his administration last week.
Tertiary education students of Ogun State origin across the country will receive N50,000 each, the governor said.
The secondary and primary school category with about 800,000 students, Prince Abiodun noted, will be done in phases, with the first phase, comprising 100,000 students getting N10,000 each. Those not captured now would get five exercise books while waiting for the next phase. The governor said women and the elderly would benefit from free medical care with insurance cards worth N18,000.
Abiodun further noted that his administration would set aside about N500 million monthly to offset the payment of deductions for civil servants in the state public service.
Governor Abiodun urged Nigerians, especially the youths not to allow themselves to be used by unscrupulous elements to disrupt the peace of the country.
He said, It is now so bad that they have planned to use our youths, give them money to disrupt the peace of the country by staging protests.” Yet, he said, the high cost of food items and other economic crises are not peculiar to Nigeria. He said, What we going through isnt what other countries around the world havent also experienced. But they were very patriotic, calm because they know the solution is on the way.
