President Buhari has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to release with immediate effect bags of rice seized from smugglers for distribution to the masses.
Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning made this known on April 6th while announcing the fiscal stimulus measures to be carried out by the federal government in response to COVID-19 pandemic.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Ahmed said the measures would be in addition to the interventions already announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The minister stated that the decision was made to solve the imminent risk posed to food security during the pandemic.
She stressed that;
President Buhari has approved grains from strategic grain reserves. The Nigerian Customs had in its custody a lot of rice that have been seized.
There are 150 trucks of rice that are now handed over to the humanitarian ministry for distribution to the states across the federation.
This follows recent plea from popular Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) requesting for the release of seized food items especially rices by the men of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS)
The minister also added that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the engagement of 774, 000 Nigerians on special public works programme implemented by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE).
This, she said, would translate to 1,000 people from the 774 local governments in the country.
She said;
Mr President has now approved that this programme is extended to all 36 states and the FCT from October 2020 to December 2020. The selected timeframe is to ensure that the programme is implemented after the planting season is over, and it will result in the employment of about 774,000 Nigerians (that is, 1,000 people per each local government).
Ahmed said that N60 billion in allowances and operational costs have been earmarked from the COVID-19 crisis intervention fund for the initiative.
During the brief, the minister expressed that Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has access to a regional disease surveillance system (REDISSE) facility which is worth $90 million.
The agency is said to have drawn $8 million from the facility and there is already a request to draw the remaining $82 million.
Ahmed added that the government has also requested for additional financing in the sum of $100 million from the REDISSE project to meet COVID-19 emergency needs in all the 36 States and the FCT, through the NCDC and federal ministry of health.
She explained that;
This will enable us to expand the capacity of intensive care units (‘ICUs’), enhance laboratory capacity, accelerate the procurement of test kits, strengthen surveillance mechanisms as well as improve information management.
