President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the plan to distribute food relief materials to the poor citizens of Nigeria.
The poor Nigerians will receive 42,000 metric tonnes of grains from the federal government.
The Federal Government made the announcement on Wednesday that it would distribute 42,000 metric tonnes of grains. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja.
The distribution process was aimed at ensuring the commodities reach the targeted citizens nationwide, and will be carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The decision followed President Tinubu's directive to release the grains from the national strategic reserves to address the rising cost of food in Nigeria.
In a related development, the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria has committed to releasing about 60,000MT of rice to the markets. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this known in Abuja after a meeting of the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention.
Explaining the distribution process, Kyari stated, “This 42,000MT is going to the needy free of charge. It will be directly to the needy at no cost.” He further added that the government would work with NEMA and DSS to identify the areas where the grains are most needed.
The government assured that only those in need would benefit from the distribution, and the state governors are aware of this development. The development will kickstart after identifying the poor families entitled to the package.