Lockdown: Food items sent across ‘all Akwa Ibom LGAs’

Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom, says he has sent food items to people in all the 31 local government areas of the state.

He said the items were sent to cushion the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown in the state.

The Governor had last weekend assured that his government was going to provide food items to the vulnerable across the villages across the state.

Last week, Emmanuel Ekuwem, secretary to the state government, who announced the local government committees for the disbursement of the food items, had told the journalists that all the incentives provided to the people would have been practically impossible in the face of the current lockdown across the country, if the governor had not provided the industries like the flour, rice and garri processing factories.

Ekuwem said the state had not received any item from the federal government, as all the food items were provided by the government.

The committee on the disbursement of the food items, which the state government assured were carefully selected to ensure accountability, and checks had the local government chairmen, house of assembly members, the paramount rulers, the youth and women leaders, some members of the state executive council, representatives of other political parties, the representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria, among others.

With the truckloads of food items arriving their localities, some of the beneficiaries, from Ini to Obot Akara, Ikot Abasi to Oron and from Eket to Ukanafun local government areas, were elated.

Ekuwem, who briefed the media on the disbursement, eulogised Emmanuel’s “foresightedness leading to the production of majority of staple foods in the state, insists that the volume of items send to the respective villages would not have been possible if the government were to rely on importation”.