Lagos Admits Errors in Lockdown Welfare Package, Pledges to Improve Plans

The Lagos State government has admitted errors in its food relief package distribution process, promising to address the issues and improve the system.

This follows public outcry and knocks from stakeholders including the Nigerian Guild of Investigative Journalists (NGIJ) and other groups who condemned the government for adopting a defective approach in handling the palliative measures.

The social media was also inundated with videos of residents across the state lamenting the beggarly and pitiful foodstuff portions received during the exercise. The residents also castigated the state government for alleged insensitivity.

Mr Gbenga Omotoso, the state
Commissioner for Information & Strategy in a statement on Tuesday said, “The government is constantly monitoring the process and has observed some lapses that gave rise to the negative comments on some social media platforms.”

Omotoso promised that “The issues are being addressed to fine-tune the strategies adopted in getting the food items across to the intended recipients.”

He, however, clarified that the welfare package initiative of the Lagos State Government was to support only the indigent and the vulnerable in a few categories and not for everyone.

The Commissioner claimed that “In all, about 100,000 households across the state have been reached since the exercise started.”

“As part of strategies to ensure that the relief packages reach the deserving beneficiaries, the State government involved Community Development Associations and their Committees as well as Community and Religious Leaders to collate the names of community members who deserve to benefit from the palliative measure. The CDAs were also tasked to ensure the items were judiciously distributed, Omotosho explained.”

He urged Lagosians to be confident as “the State Government is working to ensure that the lapses are addressed so that the vulnerable who Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu said will not suffer will benefit from this laudable intervention.”