The Federal Government has commenced the disbursement of Trader Moni and other relief items in Lagos as part of the promised stimulus in the wake of the lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, who announced the package on Friday during a visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the petty cash was targeted at the vulnerable already captured in the Market/Trader Moni programme of the Federal Government. The beneficiaries are to receive N20,000 each, representing four months as against N5,000 monthly disbursement.
The food items, according to Farouk, include six thousand units of 50kg bags of rice and two trucks of twenty liters of vegetable oil, handed over to the Lagos Government from the Customs Office in Ikeja for onward distribution to thousands of the needy.
“We are here to pay a solidarity visit to the government and people of Lagos State on this unfortunate COVID-19 pandemic that is affecting us in the nation and, secondly, to follow up on the directive of Mr. President to give out palliative to the affected states-Lagos, Ogun and FCT that are lockdown by Federal Government.
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“We are bringing food relief in terms of rice and condiment and, secondly, we want to also flag off the Trader and Market Moni intervention programme that has been in existence for some time,” said the minister.
Farouk said President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that the intervention programme be expanded to also include other vulnerable groups especially the Market Moni and Trader Moni, adding “this is basically why we are here in Lagos.”
Governor Sanwo-Olu, on behalf of Lagos State, thanked President Buhari for “leading the nation at this time.”
He said: “you are aware they have started intervention in other parts of the country even before they got in here, and as the minister said, they have started identifying from their database those that will enjoy intervention of Trader Moni and Market Moni, that is something I think is novel and we’re encouraged because it’s going to affect the market women and men”.
Sanwo-Olu said with the relief items coming from the Federal Government, Lagos would have more than enough to complement the emergency food packages already started by the state government in response to the COVID-19 lockdown.
What this means, he said, is that Lagosians who did not receive the relief item under its phase one or two will get in phase three.
“If you don’t get in phase 1 or II, you will get in phase III. We would continue to review so that we don’t give the same set of people every time. With what the state and the private sector have also donated, we will be getting more than enough to give out. All we need to do is to manage the logistics, which is what we are doing, but we have to tell the people: patience is also important. We will get these things out as soon as possible,” said the governor.
