Segun Ayinde, Abeokuta
Stakeholders in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State on Monday debunked claims in a viral online video that a 10kg bag of rice was given to be shared as palliative in Sokeye Community.
At a meeting called by the leadership of the council to explain how the palliatives meant to alleviate the pains occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy were distributed, stakeholders said the formula used to share the bags of rice was the best they’ve ever seen in the state.
Speaking at the event, Bishop Ezekiel Olukunle, who represented CAN on the committee that shared and monitored the palliatives, described the video as a hatchet job and urged the public to disregard it.
“CAN was given 1000 bags of rice for our members who are vulnerable. We shared these diligently and Sokeye, like every communities, got its own share. How then can he say only one bag was to be shared by all households in the estate? He is definitely up to something bad and we plead that he should be ignored,” he said.
Corroborating the Bishop, Dr. Saheed Adeleye, who represented the Muslim Community on the sharing committee, said the formula used to share the palliatives is the best he has seen in his almost 40 years of living in the council area.
The community leader who said the man who did the video lives in the same area with him, describe him as a known opposition agent.
“There is no truth in the claims of the man. He is being used. We know him. He has never contributed to the development of our area but he is good at ganging up against every government.
“I can tell you that we in the Muslim Community got 1000 bags of rice which we distributed to the vulnerable amongst us. I live in Sokeye and I can confirm that not less than 165 bags of rice were given to the needy in the community. This is the same community the man was lying about.
“And we are not the only one who got rice to share. CAN, youths, market women, traditionalists, Baales, the Obas, Hausa, Igbo, Igede communities the Isese, artisans and many other stakeholders also shared rice for people in Sokeye. We have never had it so good in the last 40 years that I have been there,” he affirmed.
Mr. Babalola Samuel Olakunle, who is the Chairman of the Community Development Council (CDC) covering Sokeye Estate, said not less than 2000 bags of rice were given to the CDC to be shared to the vulnerables in the various communities.
He added that the CDA chairman who did the video refused to be part of the efforts to distribute the palliative when contacted.
“The one bag of rice he displayed was specifically given to him for onward transmission to an identified vulnerable widow in his estate, not for the whole estate and he knew that.
He is being used by opposition politicians to tarnish the government. We know him very well and we can tell you his antecedents.
“Aside from the thousand of bags shared by the CDC part of which we got in Sokeye and other communities, the Muslim community, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), market association, youth groups, etc also collected bags of rice and shared for their needy members in the estate and other communities.
“How then can he claim only one bag was given to the whole estate? We find his online video mischievous and embarrassing. That is why we are here to profusely debunk it and apologise to the state government.
“We also think he should be made to explain his actions so as to prevent other people with the same motive from going the same way,” Babalola added.
Also, Chief Mrs. Kemi Ogunleye, the Iyaloja of the LGA, explained how market women were given 1000 bags of rice as palliatives.
“We shared it among out people and more than 60 bags were given to market women in Sokeye where that man lives. Just because the state government did not hand over all the rice to him to share as it used to be in the past, he is now spreading falsehood.
“He is angry because it is no longer business as usual,” she said.
In his own testimony, Chief Kasumu Jamiu Sonola, the Baale of Asese community and Chairman, Council of Baales in the local government, said he took delivery of 1000 bags of rice on behalf of the Council.