Our Take On The Negative Side of Palliatives
The term palliatives which gained prominence in the aftermath of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal has become one the most used words in Nigeria. It is increasingly very hard to read a newspaper or login to social media platforms without being accosted to the word palliatives. Although the term encompasses such areas like subsidized transportation, the national auto CNG conversion plan amongst others, the most popular form of palliatives in Nigeria is food palliatives.
Before President Bola Tinubu gave the order for the distribution of grains from the national strategic reserve, several state governments especially Northern Nigeria have already commenced the distribution of food palliatives in form of grains including rice, millet, maize, and others. It was as if a floodgate of free grains or other staples like noodles was thrown open and governors were virtually falling over themselves to take up the initiative and maybe earn the badge of being more responsive.
It didn’t take long for governors to start reporting huge expenditures for the procurement of palliatives especially around the North of Nigeria. Some of the figures quoted for palliatives are beginning to defy logic. Humongous sums that could have gone into the provision of critical infrastructure have reportedly been flushed down the drains of food palliatives yet number of those reached pales in comparison to that of those that may never get a morsel of palliatives.
Recent reports detailing the cost of Ramadan feeding in states of the North are very scary. Before he was refuted by the governor, the Kano state commissioner for Information and Home Affairs, Halilu Dantiye gave a detailed breakdown of how the state government is expending over N6 billion to feed the people of the state in this month of Ramadan. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf clarified that he approved just about N1.1 billion for the initiative and not the N6 billion touted by his commissioner.
Governor Yusuf’s clarification was necessitated by a thick and sustained backlash against the poor quality of food shared despite the huge sums budgeted in a bid to reach at least four million people during this holy month. The story is the same across the Northwest region, as governors have also been falling over themselves to spend big this Ramadan. Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi state is operating 69 feeding centres across the state’s 21 local governments. Although, no official figure has been publicly shared by the state government with respect to its Ramadan feeding programme, it is clear that servicing 69 feeding centres will not come cheap.
The general belief amongst Nigerians now is that the palliative provision initiative has become a new conduit pipe for syphoning our shared patrimony. This unfortunate turn of events is becoming a source of disquiet but that is not the worst of it. The sharing of palliatives is becoming a very dangerous endeavour for palliative hunters.
Only three days ago, two students of the Nasarawa State university were trampled to death in a stampede while fighting to get to rice provided by the state government. Several other students were injured during that same craze for small bags of rice. Only yesterday, 5 women were reportedly killed at a venue of palliative distribution in Bauchi and there are several stories of similar fatalities associated with wrongly handled palliative distribution.
We at Daylight Reporters believe the entire idea behind food palliatives has been defeated. The current rise in the prices of grains in the market has also been attributed to the rush by governments at various level to secure grains. Reports say that government grain contractors are willing to buy at any amount, probably because of the scarcity of grains in the market. And since food palliative go to a certain demographic, the inflationary pressure is transferred to the Nigerian worker whose salary now leaves him very far from home.
We believe it is time to change the tone; it is time to adopt a different strategy to this crude distribution of food. Besides the fact that it dehumanises our people, it has become too expensive to manage. At this rate, we would be creating an army of entitled Nigerians who will consider these palliatives a right. This is already playing out as trucks suspected of transporting grains expected to be palliatives are recklessly attacked and looted. The audacity of these palliatives looters in both words and action portends danger and should therefore be nipped in the bud.
Another thing we fear is that there is a feel-good factor associated to palliative distribution from both government whose feedback from palliative distribution could be positive, and the general state of contentment from among the so-called indigent may make government lose focus on, and derail from its other more critical role of providing more pressing interventions. Palliatives may also kill the hearts of many of our people and make them lazy and complacent.
The alternative would be to find a collective means of subsidising agriculture as well as its products. Since the excuse for palliative distribution is the high cost of grains which has been made worse by the initiative, the best approach should be for other states emulate the approach of Lagos state where instead of distributing food, a market for subsidised produce was opened in strategic locations. That way, government can control the price of grains without necessarily engaging in anti-liberal economics practices. With data tools now readily available, distribution in such markets can be controlled to forestall the possibility of buyers defeating the purpose of the initiative by buying only to sell at exorbitant prices.
Whatever government decides to do, we at Daylight Reporters believe this current tilt towards freebies is not sustainable; is counterproductive and would lead to a great deal many unintended consequences. Time for leaders at various levels to come up with better ideas for our people.
