Ooni to FG: Use traditional institutions to engage masses | Palliatives not the solution

Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, says the distribution of palliatives to Nigerians by the federal government would not cushion the impact of economic hardship.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Ooni said the federal government should make use of traditional institutions for the distribution of palliatives to the masses.

On July 15, Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said the federal government has distributed 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory (FCT) to address the economic hardship in the country.

Idris said each truck contains 1,200 bags of 25 kg of rice, adding that every state would get 20 trucks.

The minister added that the rice distribution was aimed at alleviating the hardship faced by Nigerians, adding that governors were expected to ensure that the food items reach the most vulnerable in their respective states.

Speaking on the situation, the monarch said palliatives, when shared, do not get to the people who need them, adding that some government officials will hijack them for ”political aggrandisement.”

“On palliatives, it has not worked, and it’s not going to work, because we know that when you go through a particular route, some will stall it for political aggrandizement,” Ooni said.

“They will want to take a lot of pictures and make a lot of fun fair about it, not knowing that the people that need this thing—some of them are even dying but where is the platform that you don’t even have adequate security. How do they relate with traditional institutions?

“When they are going for the campaign, they get to all our palaces, and they talk to us, so when they are now distributing palliatives, why can’t they drop it in our palaces?

“The same way they know that we have a convergent port, they’ve never done it before when they want to get to people. They know that we are so accountable; we always hold palace courts; people prefer to come to the palaces, and it is all over Nigeria.”

‘FG SHOULD ENGAGE THE MASSES’

The first-class monarch said President Bola Tinubu’s administration should engage the masses to avert the planned nationwide protest.

Ooni admitted the people’s right to protest but cautioned against the destruction of public and private assets during the planned rallies, noting that the masses would bear the consequences of any violent action.

He urged the organisers of the demonstration to shelve their actions and allow the federal government additional time to stabilise the economy.

On July 25, Tinubu met with traditional rulers from across the country at the State House in Abuja.

The royal fathers were led by Muhammad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto, and Ooni.

“We have engaged them; we have let them know that it is real and that indeed a lot of Nigerian citizens are not happy,” he said.

“The thing is getting wider; the disparity between the upper class and the lowest of the lowest class is getting wider; people cannot go to their farms because of security; a lot of things are happening that are so intense in terms of poverty, and in terms of hunger, we can see it’s very clear, but let us focus on solutions.

“They told us to appeal to our people for a little bit of patience; they will come up with a lot of incentives that will continue to bring it down.

“The solution they told us: look at local government reform; the local government now has autonomy for three tiers of government; they will have local government chairman that will have their own budget and budgetary allocation.

“They will spend the money very close to the community; it hasn’t been implemented; that’s one of the very, very major moves that has been done. The government is saying we should wait and let us be patient for it to happen.

“What is critical now is to do proper engagement with the masses; it’s very, very important because what they are clamouring for is what they are going to eat.

“And also, we have actually made our platform open to the government; they are not using the traditional institutions enough to get to the people.

“It is the government arms that they are using, and they have been using this for the last 60 years; let them use the platform of traditional institutions to get to the people and see whether it’s going to fail.

“This time around they have agreed that they will work with us, and that’s the reason why we are also re-energised to actually support the local government reforms and make sure that a lot of people are going to benefit from it.”