Barely five days after restriction of movement in Lagos State commenced, the Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has disclosed that the palliative programme designed to assist indigent and aged has been sabotaged by some residents in the state.
Sanwo-Olu explained that the programme which started on a positive note was later hijacked by some residents at the detriment of 200,000 specified beneficiaries, sabotaging the benefits that should have gone to the indigents and aged.
The Governor, who disclosed this on Saturday while addressing pressmen on the progress made by the state in containing coronavirus since the disease broke out in Lagos, did not disclose the perpetrators’ identity.
He further hinted that his team had gone back to re-strategise with the aim to develop a superior method of distribution during the lockdown.
“My dear Lagosians, you will recall that when we began this battle, I promised you that the vulnerable and indigent segment of our society would not be abandoned or left behind. It was in this vein, that I approved a Welfare Program under which 200,000 households were targeted in the first phase, for the distribution of food items and other essential items.
“While the Program has since begun to make a positive difference in the lives of many of the intended beneficiaries, I must also acknowledge that there have been hitches and snags in some aspects of the implementation.
“It is not as though, we never envisaged teething problems along the way, but I must tell you that our major focus was to roll out without delay and fine-tune the modalities as we continued with program expansion.
“What we, however, did not reckon with, was the extent to which some people would go to deliberately undermine and sabotage a program intended to bring succor to the poorest among us. This kind of malicious behavior is unacceptable, and we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that all the culprits are identified and appropriately punished.
“I must assure you that we have since returned to the drawing board for a more superior strategy to ensure that this laudable program is not compromised by the sheer irresponsibility of a few and that the full palliative impact is realized across the State”
