Residents of Sokeye Estate, a neighbourhood in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, rejected a quarter bag of rice sent to the community as palliative from the state government.
In a trending video seen by Chronicle NG, a man who identified himself as the estate’s Community Development Association (CDA) chairman described the action by the Dapo Abiodun-led government as an “insult” to the members of the community.
The visibly angry CDA chairman further asked the governor to return the quarter bag of rice to President Bola Tinubu, as residents of the estate are not “hungry people”
Expressing his anger the CDA Chairman said, “In this estate, we have 147 houses with families and tenants living there. I am confused now because I don’t know how to share this with the 147 households in Sokeye Estate.”
“If you guys (the Ogun State Government) know you cannot do something, don’t do it. We are not hungry, we are not beggars, so we don’t need your rice as palliative. This is not even up to an eighth of a bag.”
“If it’s not possible, don’t do it. I will return this to Dapo Abiodun to return to his boss, President Tinubu, to share it among his children. If you want to give us palliative, don’t insult us. Sokeye Estate refuses to be insulted.”
Sokeye Estate returns palliative pic.twitter.com/cVcxFPYaE7
— Jimi Disu (@jimidisu) October 14, 2023
The Ogun state government had in September flagged off the distribution of 300,000 bags of rice to its residents as parts of palliatives to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy on the price of premium motor spirit popularly known as petrol.