Ondo distributes 10,000 packs of noodles to over 190,000 primary school pupils as palliatives

No fewer than 10,000 packs of noodles will soon be distributed to primary school pupils in Ondo State as part of a palliative measure to alleviate the hardships caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.

Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, the Ondo State commissioner for information and orientation, made this announcement during a press conference with journalists in Akure on Tuesday.

Mrs Ademola-Olateju revealed that the noodles would be distributed to over 192,000 pupils in the state’s primary schools, based on data from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

“The packs will come in sizes of 4 to 6 kgs. We have gotten 10,000 packs of the noodles and they will be shared with the primary school pupils.

“We have already contacted SUBEB for the figure of the pupils and over 192,000 of them would get two packs each of the noodles.

“The distribution would be done by a separate committee in each local government area of the state,” she said.

The commissioner also mentioned that the decision to distribute noodles to primary school pupils was made by the state’s palliative strategy and implementation committee established by the government.

Mrs Ademola-Olateju also disclosed that the state government would begin cash transfers of N10,000 to vulnerable individuals in the state this week.

According to her, the list of beneficiaries will be generated by the existing LG committees in collaboration with representatives of market women associations, park management, and united artisan groups.

“It would be 1000 per LGA. Attention would be focused on widows with young children, critically ill individuals, very aged people (80+) and physical disability.”

Reiterating that a total of 23,000 bags of rice have been distributed throughout the state, Mrs Ademola-Olateju emphasised that the list of the first set of beneficiaries would be sent to the committee.

She added that the distribution of food packages would begin soon, with a target of reaching one million households.

“We have engaged the vendors to help us package some of these grains for distribution and we are targeting one million households.”

President Bola Tinubu, who announced the end of petrol subsidy on May 29, had shortly after revealed palliative measures to mitigate the impact of the removal.