NIGERIA’S Private Sector led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has formally announced the flag-off of a nationwide distribution of multi-billion naira food palliative and other relief items to mitigate the adverse effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic on vulnerable Nigerians.
The food relief materials for which the private sector operators are spending about N23 billion, will cover 1.7 families, amounting to about 10 million people across the 774 local governments in the country, including the Federal Capital Territory.
CACOVID Administrator and CEO of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, told newsmen in Lagos that the food distribution was the next phase in the line of actions mapped out by the coalition to partner government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and relieve vulnerable people of the burden posed by the outbreak of the disease.
Zouera disclosed that with the announcement in Lagos, the Coalition had divided the nation into six geo-political zones, adding that the distribution was being flagged-off simultaneously in Adamawa, Yobe, Ekiti Ogun, Delta, Edo, Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, Plateau, and Nasarawa states.
The offer of food palliatives comes on the heels of donations by CACOVID, of medical equipment in some instances to state governments to strengthen their response capacity and outright building of isolation facilities in about 38 centres in the country. In this regard, the Coalition has spent about N15 billion to help ease the pressure on the states and Federal Government in their response to the pandemic.
CACOVID has also helped to reinforce the testing capacity of the NCDC with the donation of over 300,000 test kits and PPEs just as the Coalition is primed to commence the third and final phase of its COVID-19 response plan.
While displaying some food items, Youssoufou disclosed that each family that would benefit from the palliatives would receive in various quantities, Rice, Pasta, Garri, Maize, Semo, noodles, salt and Sugar.
She explained the rationale behind the involvement of private sector operators in the fight against COVID-19, saying the irreducible minimum the private sector could do as partners in nation building was to collaborate with government at all levels to help fight the pandemic and reduce the hardship it had brought upon the nation and her people.
She said, “CACOVID has since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic been committed to providing relief packages to the most vulnerable. The Coalition’s primary focus was to aid the Federal Government in the fight against COVID-19.
“Having done this successfully, we are turning our attention to offering a reprieve to households who have been adversely affected by the scourge of the virus. Through this Food Relief Programme, we will be reducing the risk of a second viral wave by encouraging people to remain indoors rather than expose themselves when seeking to provide food for themselves and their families.”
The Aliko Dangote Foundation CEO reiterated that the Coalition would be working closely with the state governments through the Nigerian Governors Forum to ensure all targeted families are reached and that it is done transparently.
She said, “The State Governors and FCT Minister, through the State Implementation Committee, will appoint a coordinator to diligently record and send an accurate and complete copy of the inventory tracker and goods delivery notes to the CACOVID Operations Center daily through the State CACOVID Representative to ensure timely and efficient delivery and proper transparency and accountability.
“The Food Relief Programme is being managed by the CACOVID Operations Centre in Lagos and we have procured the various food items from leading Nigerian Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies to achieve the necessary scale, speed, and quality assurance at carefully negotiated prices that reflect value for money without creating negative market distortions. Each pack or box is clearly identified and marked as ‘Not For Sale’.
“CACOVID has laid out an elaborate plan and will be distributing the relief packages to the target beneficiaries across all 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria with the State Governors and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as champions of this initiative in each state.”
She assured that since the resources of CACOVID were the contributions of private sector operators, operations and the account were being audited to ensure transparency and accountability.
Explaining the strategy being adopted for the distribution, Ms Osayi Alile, CEO, AspireCoronation Trust (ACT) Foundation, who is also a CACOVID Operations Implementation Committee member, explained that the Coalition was not political party biased but discharging its mandates to all Nigerians.
According to her, a state implementation Committee has been constituted in each state which in turn draws up a list of households based on clearly defined criteria used to select the benefitting households.
“The State Government, through the State Implementation Committee, will organise for representatives of all the state Local Government Areas (LGAs) to collect the allocations for each LGA and oversee the redistribution to each Ward and onto each eligible beneficiary at the grassroots subsequently based on an agreed distribution schedule,” she explained.
In his remark, CACOVID Communication Committee member and Dangote Industries Chief Corporate Communication Officer, Anthony Chiejina, stated that while the food distribution was going on across the nation, the Coalition would continue to intensify its grassroots awareness campaign on the virus simultaneously.
