Ejiofor Alike
as the cash meant for the poor were diverted to the pockets of the officials of the ministry, leaving poor Nigerians to be further impoverished.
The pioneer minister in charge of the ministry, Mrs Sadiya Umar-Farouq, was detained in January by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for questioning over allegations of corruption in the handling of N37.1 billion social intervention funds during her tenure.
After President Bola Tinubu took over in May 2023, the name of the ministry was changed to the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation but the ministry continued to be enmeshed in corruption scandals.
In January, President Tinubu suspended Umar-Farouq’s successor, Dr. Betta Edu, following widespread anger over an alleged
N585 million scandal.
A week earlier, President Tinubu had suspended the National Coordinator and chief executive of the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), Mrs. Halima Shehu over multibillion naira fraud.
Shehu worked as the National Coordinator of the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.
The former banker had worked at the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, from 2017 to 2022.
With massive corruption scandals rocking the programmes designed to tackle the self-inflicted poverty unleashed on Nigerians by the ruling class, the country has continued to host the world’s poorest people.
Even the distribution of free food items and other palliatives has also been bogged down in many cities by corruption and lack of fairness, which have led to stampede in the distribution venues and loss of lives.
On February 23, 2024, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) embarked on the distribution of 25kg bags of rice to indigent Nigerian citizens in the Lagos Area at its Zonal Headquarters, in Yaba, Lagos State
The exercise, which was part of government’s intervention in the current economic hardship and hunger, was however, marred by a stampede, which claimed the lives of seven persons.
Two students of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi also died penultimate week, and 17 others, mostly females, were injured while scrambling to collect 7.5 kilogrammes of rice donated to them as palliatives by the state government.
It was gathered that a paltry sum of N5,000 for each student also accompanied the items.
For students to die because of N5,000 and 7.5 kilogrammes of rice showed the level of poverty and hardship inflicted on Nigerians by the country’s ruling political class.
Reacting to the Nasarawa incident, human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana attributed the death of the students to official negligence.
He faulted the position of the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Suleiman Bala, who had blamed the tragedy on the victims.
While the Universal President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Lucky Emonefe, had called for a thorough investigation to ensure that those responsible for the mishandling of the distribution of the palliatives are held accountable, Bala had blamed the stampede on the impatience of the students.
On his part, Governor Abdullahi Sule said the stampede occurred because some students thought that their names were being replaced by the Students’ Union Government of the institution, and this showed that the distribution lacked transparency.
No fewer than four people were also reportedly trampled to death last Sunday while struggling for free food meant for the less-privileged in an almsgiving exercise at Shafa Holdings Company Plc on Jos Road in Bauchi, Bauchi State.
In another sad incident, a ward chairman of the Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Olumide Awolumate, had also manhandled the then state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Juliana Osadahun, in September 2023 during the distribution of palliatives to the Akoko North-West Local Government Area of the state.
Though no life was lost, the commissioner was allegedly injured in the head, which led to the suspension of the ward chairman by the party.
With the venues for the distribution of palliatives becoming killing fields due to corruption and mismanagement, there is no respite for the victims of poverty, which was created by Nigeria’s ruling class.