Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun on Wednesday flagged off the distribution of 6,020 bags of 50g rice to the needy to mitigate the hardship occasioned by lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
Oyetola said at the ceremony in Osogbo, that the rice would be distributed to poor people and the needy in the state through door-to-door channel.
The governor noted that welfare of people in the state was the reason he was in government.
Oyetola said he would do everything possible to satisfy the interest of the people during the period of the lockdown.
“You will all recall that, as part of the measures to mitigate the inherent effects of the lockdown on our people, we promised to distribute palliatives to them.
“We also constituted a 21-man Food and Relief Committee to mobilise resources for the procurement of more palliatives to support the government’s effort.
“This flag off is a partial fulfilment of that promise and the pledge I made to the people at a press conference three days ago to provide the promised palliatives very soon.
“This is the intervention of the state government as we await those of the committee which will follow very soon.
“We shall respond responsibly to your needs as we pull through this period together,” he said.
The governor said the Cote d’ Ivorie returnees at the isolation centre in Ejigbo were responding to treatment.
Oyetola said it was his hope that the Coronavirus patients would recover soon to join their families.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oyetola had on March 29 announced a total lock-down of the state effective from midnight of March 31 to stop the spread of Coronavirus.
NAN also reports that there are 20 confirmed Coronavirus cases in Osun as announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). (NAN)