COVID-19 Lockdown: BPE Offers Succour To FCT Residents

BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) is targeting about 1,200 households in the Federal Capital (FCT) as part of its palliative packages designed to cushion the harsh effects of Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) on the poor and vulnerable Nigerians.

Director General of the Bureau, Mr Alex A. Okoh stated this while distributing welfare items during the second phase of its outreach programme on Good Friday, April 10, 2020 at Yimitu Village, a suburb of Apo area in the Federal Capital Territorry (FCT), Abuja.

The items distributed by the Bureau to the less-privileged consisted of 300 bags of assorted food types

Mr Okoh said BPE embarked on its public-spirited gesture to assist Nigerians, particularly the vulnerable, and alleviate their sufferings caused by the Federal Government’s stay-at-home directive meant to fight the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the nation’s capital.

BPE’s Head of Public Communication, Amina Tukur Othman, said in a statement that the gesture was initiated and supported solely by the management and staff of the Bureau.

The statement quoted the Director General as saying that “contrary to the belief that privatised enterprises in the country are part of the initiative, they (privatised enterprises)’s contribution is to the Federal Government’s Presidential Committee on COVID-19” and not the Bureau.

He said in line with set guidelines for distributing the items, preference are given to widows and single mothers as target groups with 60 per cent of the items going to them and the remaining 40 percent to the vulnerable and people with special needs in the area of coverage.

Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, one of the community leaders, Nze Leonard Iheanacho, praised BPE for its kind gesture, noting that it was quite timely because most families in the area have faced serious hardship with some being without food in the course of the lockdown.

“We can’t believe what we have seen. When we heard the news of the Bureau’s team coming with the food items; we took it with a pinch of salt as such promises in the past have never been fulfilled.

“But BPE has proved us wrong and we thank the organisation immensely for the gesture,” Iheanacho, who is Eze Ndi’Igbo in the area, said

The privatisation agency flagged-off the welfare intervention programme in line with its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Monday, April 6, 2020.

At the occasion, assorted food items were donated and distributed to the Dutse-Alhaji Community, also in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja with jubilant beneficiaries taking home bags of food stuffs to cushion the adverse effects of the stay-at-home order.