Governor, Hadiza Balarabe.
The Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Hadiza Balarabe
has clarified that the food items that were looted on Saturday were
donations from Coalition Against Covid-19
(CACOVID).
Balarabe also dispelled the rumour that the donations were
hoarded by the government or any of its officials. She praised
law-abiding citizens and appealed for their understanding of the
necessity of the 24-hour statewide curfew.
In a state broadcast on Sunday evening, she explained that ‘’the
government was ready to commence distribution in all the local
government areas, after taking pains to arrange a fair and
efficient system.’’
According to her, ‘’Kaduna State received the last delivery of
CACOVID items after lifting the lockdown, at a time when the
state’s Covid-19 figures were rising.’’
‘’ The government considered the real possibility that a second
lockdown might be required. Therefore, it weighed the prospect of
using these donations to mitigate the lockdown were such to
happen,’’ Dr. Balarabe said.
The Deputy Governor said that ‘’government did not wish to rely
again on donations by public servants in Kaduna State that had
funded the first two rounds of palliatives distributed in the
state.’’
‘’However, the government subsequently decided to distribute the
CACOVID items to vulnerable citizens, using the lessons from the
distribution of the items purchased by the state government during
the lockdown,’’ she added.
Balarabe said that one of these lessons that were learnt from
the previous exercises ‘’ is about better targeting of
beneficiaries in order to ensure fair spread across local
governments.’’
‘’The Local Government Co-Ordinators and Ward Committees were
tasked with identifying vulnerable persons in areas where the
Social Register data was unavailable,’’ she added.
She recalled that the state had purchased and distributed
palliatives in two phases across the 23 local government areas.
‘’However, new guidelines were included for CACOVID distribution
at ward level to help ensure a fair spread and ease the movement of
beneficiaries to pick the items.
‘’ The items are bulky and it’s easier and cheaper for them to
pick up at the ward level rather than centralized locations in the
local government areas,’’ she said.
According to her, ‘’arrangements for distributing the items had
been concluded, such that each beneficiary knew where they would be
receiving their items as supervised by ward committees who in many
instances do not personally know the beneficiaries.’’
Balarabe argued that these elaborate arrangements to ensure a
transparent exercise in handling CACOVID donations are part of the
government’s duty of political responsiveness.
‘’Mob action cannot replace the methodical steps taken to
identify these persons and arrange for them to safely receive the
items,’’ she said.
She condemned the looting of the food items, arguing that there
can be no other word but theft to describe it.
Speaking further, the Deputy Governor further pointed out that
the looted items were kindly provided to all the 36 states by the
generosity of a private-sector coalition.
She however commended the vast majority of the people of Kaduna
State for being law-abiding and for not allowing criminal actions
in their communities.
‘’We regret the inconvenience that this statewide curfew might
have caused for such persons. The curfew is a difficult but
necessary step for containing the violence and preventing it from
infecting peaceful communities,’’ she argued.
She also assured that government ‘’ will keep reviewing the
security situation while doing our utmost to protect citizens and
their property.’’
‘’I appeal to all residents to comply with the curfew and help
us accelerate a return to the normalcy that decent citizens
deserve,’’ she advised.
The Deputy Governor said that she and other senior government
officials have inspected many of the locations where criminal
actions of looting and vandalisation occurred.
‘’We have met community leaders and made it clear that what
happened yesterday will not be tolerated. There can be no excuses
for the crimes we have witnessed,’’ she said.
According to Balarabe, ‘’the state is obliged to find and
prosecute those involved in the criminal actions that unfolded
yesterday.’’
‘’Those who instigated these actions and who sadly persist in
incitement should also expect to hear from the law,’’ she
vowed.