Crisis looms over mismanagement of FG’s palliatives, Buba Galadima warns

An elder statesman, Buba Galadima, has cautioned that Nigerians will revolt if the Federal Government does not equitably distribute palliatives to the poor and vulnerable during the lockdown.
Government officials have been accused of diverting the palliatives from donations of individuals and corporate organisations running to several billions of Naira to cushion the effects of lockdown on vulnerable Nigerians.
Galadima, who spoke in a telephone interview in Abuja, while paying tributes to the late Abba Kyari said the palliatives were not getting the poor and may never reach them.
“You cannot lock people at home without means of livelihood, even the next meal and sharing palliatives without a formula. Why should one person think that he will share money to all Nigerians? It shows that they don’t trust anyone,” he said.
He, therefore, admonished the Federal Government to set up a committee from polling booth, ward, local government, state and national levels with formula on how the money should be shared.
This, he said, will indicate how money trickles down to each polling unit and could be tracked at the end of the day.
“If every polling unit got a committee of three or five persons and you give them N10000 we have somebody whose phone number can be used to know if the N10000 reached the person or not.
He said the practice has been that some persons usually pocket money that was released, but as things are now, what is the use of money?
“If it is all about money, don’t you think the Federal Government could have buy life for Abba Kyari? So, why are people so deceitful?
“As I speak, I don’t know anybody who has collected the palliatives. I have contacted people in the 774 local government areas in the country and nobody confirmed to me that he has collected any money or that he has even seen somebody who has collected the palliative,” he added.
He said if there are persons who have received the money he should be educated, adding, “This is not politics, there would be a day of reckoning when some people will ask questions.
“I keep telling people that if today we are in power who knows who is going to be there tomorrow because we were not there yesterday.”
On the death of Kyari, he said government should redouble its effort in educating the people on the dangers of coronavirus and that no soul, however big or small, was immune to it.
“We must continue to educate our people vigorously on the dangers of the virus and show them example that if it is money or power it wouldn’t have come close to the late Kyari,” he added.