The Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Oladele Alake, has appealed to Kind and public-spirited Nigerians to support vulnerable persons, the poor, and the needy in the country to ameliorate current economic hardship.
Alake, who appealed, said such assistance would also ease the present economic hardship on the people.
The minister, who also flagged off the distribution of 1,200 bags of rice to the aged in Ekiti State, said the move followed the presidency’s decision to respond to the Nigerian people’s yearnings to make more food available at the grassroots.
Alake, in a statement by his Special Assistant Media) Segun Tomori said all hands must be on deck to support all efforts to eliminate hunger and poverty.
While appreciating President Bola Tinubu for living up to his tradition of listening to the people and demonstrating a caring heart, he said the 1,200 bags made available to him and each minister to supplement further the established channels of distribution, such as state governments and civic organisations, will be channelled to the elderly only.
He said, “We need to reach out to our aged fathers and mothers at times like this to demonstrate the Omoluabi values of caring for the old in the community.
“In the spirit of inclusion, it is important that we channel this intervention to mainly elderly citizens who do not have the strength to compete for welfare goods such as these at the established centres. We have taken their inventory, and we are delivering to them”.
Subsequent interventions, Alake revealed, will target other segments of the populace, such as widows, orphans, persons living with disabilities and students in higher institutions of learning.