Osun govt. distributes ‘Garri’ to 30,000 vulnerable persons in Osun

Osun govt. distributes ‘Garri’ to 30,000 vulnerable persons in Osun.

Osun Government on Monday, distributed five-kilogramme bags of Garri to 30,000 vulnerable people in the state.

The distribution of the food items was part of its monthly ‘Food Support Scheme’ initiative aimed at cushioning the socio-economic effects of the global economic downturn and COVID-19.

Gov. Gboyega Oyetola distributed the packages at the state secretariat Abere, Osogbo.

Represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prince Wole Oyebamiji, Oyetola explained that the distribution of the garri would help to complement the economic value chain projected by the state government.

“Our administration is a government of the people, by the people and for the people and as such, the governor has a great interest in the growth of the economy of the state.

“If we are encouraging young men and women to go into farming, we as a government have a responsibility to ensure that they have patronage and to ensure that they have support so that going back to the farm will be meaningful because it is not easy to encourage youths to go back to farm without the necessary support.

“The local production of garri by our people is an attestation to the fact that there is wealth in farming.

“This will be an encouragement to boost farming, grow our economy and provide employment opportunities for our people.

“We are proud to do it, and we are not regretting it. This will not in any way relegate other staple foods that we have adopted for distribution. We believe we should encourage local productions too,” the governor added.

In his remarks, the Osun Commissioner for Special Duties and Regional Integration, Mr Olalekan Badmus, said the administration of Gov. Oyetola would continue to sustain the scheme.

Badmus assured that the administration is committed to reactivating local productions, calling on the youths to take maximum advantage of the opportunity provided to develop themselves individually and collectively.

“You will agree with me that this is a noble step to ensuring that local content is actually achieved.

“This has been able to allow the garri farmers, that is, the cassava growers and garri processors, to benefit in one way or the other.

“To arrive at this noble gesture, we are able to identify young entrepreneurs who are into various staple foods productions.

“In the course of meeting one of the entrepreneurs, it was actually discovered that he deliberately went to his town to look for what he could be doing to contribute to the development of his community where he later came up with the production of ‘Garri Ode-Omu.’ This is worthy of emulation,” he said.

Speaking on how the government was able to assemble the entrepreneurs within the state to match up with the quantity of garri required, Badmus said “I went to about 10 towns in Osun and I was very impressed with the quantity of garri that I saw.

“The cassava farmers, garri processors, and others who are involved in the production were very happy and have a sense of belonging.

“I can assure our people that we have enough quantity to distribute for this edition. We are not resting on our oars.

“We will still need to go back to see how we can incorporate other sustainable commodities into the scheme. We will continue to be innovative.

“We are not rigid; we will continue to see the possibility of bringing other products.

“If we can see the possibility of bringing vegetables that can be well packed and have the volume of what we want with the required lifespan, we will not hesitate to go for it.

“We will continue to do our research. We will continue to bring new products into the scheme,” he said.

One of the local entrepreneurs, who supplied a significant amount of garri to the government for distribution, Mr Raji Adekunle, appreciated Gov. Oyetola for giving youths the opportunity to grow and develop their business in the state.

Adekunle said the inclusion of his venture in the list of those that supplied garri to the government has helped to expand the scope of his business.