THE Nigerian Government has again distributed what it often refers to as palliatives in Anambra State.
Some palliatives distributed to women in the state on Wednesday, October 9, include 5,000 (10 kg) bags of rice, 500 bags of fertilisers, 500 PoS (point of sale) machines and 300 pieces of gas cylinders.
The ICIR reports that while significant resources are allocated to palliatives by the government, reports indicate that the impact on ordinary citizens has been minimal, and the government conceals beneficiaries’ data, forcing many citizens to believe that such support gets to only relations, loyalists and cronies of public officer holders and chieftains of their political parties.
While ‘palliative’ has been a household name in Nigeria, only a few citizens publicly confess to having benefitted from it, even though it has been a policy of successive federal governments.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines palliative as “making a problem seem less serious but not solving the problem or making it disappear.”
This has been the fate of many beneficiaries of such goodwill as they soon become impoverished after exhausting what was doled out to them, which often comes as foodstuffs and cash.
However, beneficiaries who receive what could empower them such as the PoS, fertiliser, sewing machines, motorcycles and the like, move on to use such gifts to create wealth.
Anambra’s palliatives were shared in Awka, the state capital by the minister of women’s Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye.
At the event, Kennedy-Ohanenye emphasised that the distribution of relief items was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to cushion hardship that has led to widespread discontent among Nigerians.
She added that President Bola Tinubu was aware of the hardship Nigerians faced, but assured that once the government’s policies started yielding results, life would become easier.
“These items we are sharing today are from President Tinubu, and he has assured us that he will do more. The items we have here are only for the poor and no one who is out of here will benefit from it.
“We want to cultivate a culture of ensuring that whatever is released by the Federal Government to the people gets to them. That is why I’m here to supervise the distribution of these items.
“We have here 5,000 bags of rice, 500 bags of fertilizer, 300 cooking gas cylinders and POS machines, which will all be distributed,” she said.
According to her, the government has established a mobile court to safeguard the interests of the underprivileged, emphasising that the court would operate nationwide.
The minister stressed that anyone obstructing the rights of the poor would be held accountable by the law.
“The mobile court will take off from October 15. We will launch a group called Integrity Brigade to fight ills in the country.
“The government has been supporting the poor on social security, but you have to apply to benefit. I want to sound it as a note of warning, do not be afraid to tender your BVN when requested. No one can steal your money if you tender your BVN, it is only used to ensure that people who have been privileged to such a facility cannot collect again. What we do is to ensure that the money mapped out for social security gets to the people.”
The ICIR reported that since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu’s administration has rolled out rice distributions as palliative measures, at least nine times, to ease the economic strain caused by the removal of fuel subsidies, unification of exchange rates and other economic reforms.
The ICIR reports that Tinubu’s announcement that the “subsidy is gone” on May 29, 2023, negatively impacted the economy as the price of fuel had more than doubled since then. This led to a surge in the price of commodities and a spike in inflation.
Following this removal, the World Bank announced that 7.1 million Nigerians were at risk of poverty if properly targeted measures such as disbursement of palliatives were not taken to manage the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
To cushion the effects of escalating food prices, electricity costs, and fuel expenses, the government has been rolling out rice multiple times as palliatives targeted at vulnerable Nigerians.
However, these interventions have been plagued by reports of diversion, corruption, stampedes, and looting—patterns observed during previous administrations.
For instance, deputy senate president, Barau Jibrin raised concerns about the alleged diversion of palliatives meant for poor households in Kano State for personal gain.
Similarly, in August, Bauchi, Gombe and Jigawa States decried the alleged diversion of the Federal Government’s 20-truck rice palliative by politicians and government officials in charge.
The same patterns were also recorded in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and other parts of the country showing that these interventions might not be reaching their actual targets.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M