GOVERNANCE BY ‘DONATIONS’ OF RICE IS BAD GOVERNANCE, HURIWA CAUTIONS FG
Pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has tasked the current federal administration to modify her strategy of reaching out to the millions of impoverished and severely hungry citizens. HURIWA said widespread corruption by many high ranking government officials who enjoy political cover from the office of the president is responsible for the ever expanding number of poverty stricken citizens.
The group urged government to first and foremost, enforce strict laws of good governance such as ensuring strict supervision of government agencies in the federal ministries and parastatals to stop massive corruption and diversion of public funds by public office holders as is currently the commonplace practice.
HURIWA has also urged the government to prioritize accountability, transparency, zero- tolerance to corruption to stem the tide of the actual collapse of the capacity of government to build a virile national economy that would motivate and empower energetic, creative and enterprising Nigerians to set up and run their businesses with minimal effort to put basic infrastructures into efficient functionality.
“Government machineries ought to work at full throttle so Nigerians who can would directly provide services by way of offering consultancy services or carrying out transparent procurement services through a process that is open, transparent and offers equal opportunities. The idea of the wife and first son of the president sharing foodstuffs to Nigerians all the times portrays Nigeria as a failed state governed by an unelected emperor.”
HURIWA also criticised the the central government for making it look like the holder of the high office of president of Nigeria and key members of his nuclear family such as the wife and first son of the president are obliged to embark on extensive nationwide tours to distribute hundreds of thousands of bags of rice and payments of medical bills for the needy as if to say the system of government is that of governance by donations or a father Christmas or bonanza administration.
“If we may ask, is the Bola Ahmed Tinubu family into large scale mechanised rice farming enterprise? From which source or sources are the wife and son of President Tinubu getting the funds to continue their endles distribution of foodstuffs which are mostly reported and seen by most Nigerians only in the media of mass communication? Why is Mr. President himself also donating bags of rice to indigent citizens instead of providing the right enabling environment for small, medium and large scale private businesses to thrive under his government? Something is not right in all of these shenanigans of sharing of bags of rice covered generously by the media in Nigeria.
In a media statement by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko the National Coordinator, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said for key family members of the first family of Nigeria at the moment to personalise the distribution of free bags of rice, is graphically painting a sick nation that lacks the necessary governmental agencies and institutions for distribution of welfare packages to the poorest of the poor like most democracies do all over the World. Nigeria have these agencies but under the current dispensation we don’t get to even know what mandates these publicly funded humanitarian agencies are carrying out.
“Rather than we keep consuming media contents that are mostly about the key members of the family of Mr. President sharing bags of rice to poor Nigerians, why don’t the federal government allow the relevant relief materials distribution bodies set up by law such as the agencies created under the federal ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation to execute the mandates for which the ministry was statutorily established to do with hundreds of billions of Naira of public money released to the ministry yearly for salaries and carrying out of programmes to benefit the increasing numbers of poor, hungry, homeless and hapless Nigerians,” HURIWA argues.
HURIWA recalled that President Bola Tinubu had recently donated 7000 bags of rice to the All Progressives Congress (APC) members in Zamfara as a Ramadan package.
The State Publicity Secretary of the party, Yusuf Idris, disclosed this in a statement issued in Gusau on Saturday
He said that the distribution of the largesse was inuagurated on Friday in Gusau by the Minister of State, Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle.
Represented by the State APC Chairman, Alhaji Tukur Danfulani, the minister handed over the commodity to the party’s executives at the APC Secretariat, Gusau.
He said the gesture was a personal donation from Tinubu to reduce the economic hardship among the APC members and less-privileged persons in the state.
The minister explained that the 7000 bags of rice were to be distributed free to all the targetted beneficiaries including the state executives, local governments’ and wards’ executives. HURIWA carpeted the president for segregating between political party members who should share from his largesse. The Rights group said this discriminatory practice as displayed in the selective sharing of few bags of rice to just All Progressives Congress members is why the President shouldn’t get involved in sharing of foodstuffs to citizens because that is outside of his schedules of duty constitutionally.
HURIWA recalled too that the federal government, on Friday, donated palliative items to Christian and Muslim faithful in the South-East and South-South zones to cushion the effect of the economic hardship in the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the donation was unveiled in Owerri on behalf of President Bola Tinubu by Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo.
In a speech, the president said that the donation aimed to support the Christian and Muslim faithful to break their fast.
He said the fasting and prayer period called for charity and that the gesture had more spiritual importance than physical.
“As we work hard to bring permanent solutions to the hunger in the land and high cost of living, which is a global thing, the president has decided to intervene from time to time with palliative measures to cushion the effect of hardship occasioned by global economic recession.
HURIWA recalled the ongoing Ramadan outreach by Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu which has become highly controversial.
While some praised Seyi’s efforts in providing palliatives to the northerners, some others dismissed his efforts, describing them as a political stunt.
As part of his goodwill outreach for the holy month, the president’s son recently visited several states in northern Nigeria, including Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Yobe, Bauchi, and Sokoto.
It was gathered that during the outreach, Seyi engaged with youths, distributed food packages for the Iftar (breaking of fast) period and met with several influential northern leaders and politicians.
In Niger State, Seyi met with former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar and also held discussions with immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna and Governor Uba Sani.
He also met with Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, religious and traditional leaders, including prominent Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmad Nuhu Bamalli, according to reports.
HURIWA dismissed these political stunts of president Tinubu’s son as a very expensive gambit because the tours have cost the taxpayers a lot of money due to the fact that hundreds of armed officers drawn from the Department of State Services, the military and police are deployed to protect Seyi Tinubu who also uses one of the presidential jets to cruise around the Country sharing bags of rice. “If we may ask, does the law make provision for the office of the first son of the president of Nigeria?”
*Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION
OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). 23RD, March 2025.
