About 8,000 unemployed people have been assured of employment as palliatives to cushion the hardship experienced due to the lockdown occasioned by the spread of the Coronavirus.
The governor of Cross River state, southern Nigeria, Professor Ben Ayade, made the announcement while officially flagging off the distribution of food items and medical supplies to vulnerable households.
Sustaining Livelihood
Governor Ayade stated that the taskforce would commence the distribution of the palliatives through the different religious and traditional institutions. He said the employment opportunities would serve to discourage crime, alleviate sufferings and sustain the livelihood of the people.
“From today, you should put down your names in my office for any of these jobs, that is cleaners, gardeners, nurses, and a host of others, so we can call you. The payment is 30,000 naira monthly stipend. We need only people, who are willing to render services at that cost
As a government, we decided to take this step because the food we provide as palliatives would not be enough. That is why we have chosen to create 8,000 job opportunities for those interested”, Ayade said.
“We are engaging these 8,000 people to discourage any form of crime in Cross River. As a people, we love peace, we love our security and love life. So, we have no need to play politics with the livelihoods of our people. That is why next Tuesday, 8,000 people would be employed”, he added
Distribution Process
The governor said that the palliatives would be distributed to the aged, physically challenged and the sick who are unable to truly provide for themselves and families.
“We are distributing some food items to the traditional and religious leaders all across the eighteen local government areas. We have warehouses like these in the three senatorial districts were food would be distributed to other people in the villages.
The creation of jobs is one of the palliatives created by this administration targeted at youths and those able to work”, he said.
He expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for steps taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and for sustaining livelihoods.
Stimulus Packages
The chairman of the Cross River COVID-19 Response Team and Commissioner for Health, Dr. Betta Edu thanked the governor for providing the logistics to enforce the Executive Order on the fight to prevent the spread of the virus to Cross River.
“Due to your proactive nature, your commitment and selfless support, Cross River State has remained COVID-19 free. This is a step up to all your intervention and we believe through the carefully thought out gateways, these stimulus packages will get to the people without any hassles” Edu said.
She appealed to the people to be sacrificial: “if you have food, please let your brother who has nothing to receive these packages. I will like to plead with our people that it is time to give your less privileged brother a shoulder to lean on”.
More than six thousand bags of cornmeal, 300 big bags of beans, over 5,000 tubers of yams, a 40 feet truckload of bottled water and soft drinks, bags of salts, rice, noodles and more than 15,000 bottles of hand sanitizers and nose masks were distributed to the vulnerable.
Source: VON
