SOKAPU: Reaching Out To The Vulnerable With Palliatives

BY SIMON REEF MUSA

The advent of COVID-19 has exposed an underbelly of our fragile existence, made worse by food shortages, among others, following the imposition of lockdown by both the Federal and state governments. Against the backdrop that most Nigerians depend on daily incomes for survival, the shutdown order on Kaduna state, just as in many other states, has thrown many families into quandary.

In a bid to salvage the situation, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) set up a 15-member committee, headed by former Minister of Environment, Malam Laurentia L. Mallam, with Rev Fr Williams Kaura Abba serving as secretary. After the formal inauguration of the committee, it got to work and in no time, Nigerians from all walks of life responded with generous donations. Without hesitation, SOKAPU announced that the maiden exercise for the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable persons would take place on Saturday May 2, 2020. In order to keep the people informed on donations, the committee also ensured that updates on donations are made public in a bid to ensure transparency.

To ensure a hitch-free distribution exercise, the sub-committee on distribution reached out to some religious clerics, community leaders to nominate most of their vulnerable members across religious and ethnic divide. The sub-committee also resolved that distributing the palliatives shall not be based on proxy but physical presence of recipients. The committee was able to get over 200 beneficiaries for the maiden distribution exercise.

Saturday May 2 proved less stressful without the hassles often associated with such an exercise. All that was required was the texts sent to all beneficiaries for verification. Thereafter, after verifying their phone numbers, they were shown where to sit, in accordance with the social distancing order. All beneficiaries representing over 230 households were given face masks, sanitisers and food items, comprising indomie, rice, beans, spaghetti and Macaroni.

At the brief ceremony signaling the commencement of palliative distribution, the SOKAPU President said the aim of the Union is to complement the efforts of governments and other good spirited Nigerians in cushioning the hardship being experienced by the lockdown. He did not only harp on the need for the people to observe social distancing, he clearly told the beneficiaries that the relief materials are being provided by Nigerians, mostly sons and daughters of Southern Kaduna. Describing SOKAPU’s intervention as an effort to save humanity, Hon Asake disclosed that beneficiaries cut across religious and ethnic groups.

SOKAPU, led by Hon Asake, who was accompanied by Mrs Malam and Elder Busa, later visited the Mercy Orphanage that is managed by Rev Tunde Bolanta in Angwar Romi where they donated four bags of 50kg rice, 100kg bag of beans, 10 cartons of indomie and three cartons of Macaroni. The cleric thanked SOKAPU for their efforts and called on God to bless the current efforts by the Union to provide palliatives to people and groups in distress.  

Some of the beneficiaries described the intervention as timely and thanked SOKAPU for the laudable initiative. At the end of the exercise, nearly 250 households smiled home with relief materials to provide for their families. Nominees for the next distribution are being compiled, just as the Union, in consultation with chairmen of CDAs and chapters, are working hard to identify recipients for the next distribution exercise.

I have read some persons’ views that, considering the physical appearance of some of the beneficiaries, SOKAPU only gave palliatives to the rich. That is concrete falsehood. I am aware of several instances where some of the beneficiaries, most of them widows and inform, had to be sponsored to come and collect the items. As I watched some of the beneficiaries bent the knees in appreciation for the relief materials, I knew deep in me that these people were not acting poor. If they thought these beneficiaries would appear in rags; they really missed the point.

For those who thought it smart to suggest that the exercise should have taken place in an open field, I remind them that in Kaduna state, no fewer than 12 lives have been wasted in the name of providing palliatives, including a child and a pregnant woman that were recently trampled upon by food-seeking mob. In preparing for the maiden distribution exercise, the need for space and crowd control was taken in account by SOKAPU, just as efforts were taken to ensure that no two members of the same vulnerable family got nominated for the package. Deliberate efforts were also taken to spread the recipients in different geographical locations within the Kaduna environs.

For some who suggested that the exercise should have been exclusively for Southern Kaduna people, I tell them that such was not the dream of SOKAPU. As donors cut across ethnic and religious divide, so is the distribution. I don’t think anything shall change. I am aware that SOKAPU is working towards focusing on Southern Kaduna area within the shortest time possible.

One thing seems obvious to me as SOKAPU undertook its first distribution of relief materials: Without an effective distribution network, provision of palliatives could turn into a herculean task and a cesspit of rot. With outright efficiency and sincerity, SOKAPU clearly made the point that beneficiaries who are the direct targets of these palliatives must be reached personally, not through proxies as it is being done by government. Little wonder, billions of naira as claimed by government to have been spent are without any impact.

That is not to state that the Saturday exercise was completely devoid of hitches. I am aware that the Union is reviewing the event with the hope of perfecting the next distribution. As someone who witnessed the event from the sideline, I can confidently declare that it was an excellent event that saw nearly 250 households having so much to thank God for generous donors.

Let me note here that SOKAPU’s intervention was not based on political partisanship, it was based on the need for humanity. The membership of the committee cuts across political association. So, those who seek to criticise the Saturday event in order to satisfy their political affiliation are free to do that, and I do not begrudge their rights. After all, as someone once said, “Do not pay attention to the critic, no statue has ever been erected in his memorial.”

Beyond the gobbledygook by miserable critics to foist on public consciousness a make-belief dark part of an excellent programme embarked upon by SOKAPU, I have always taken deep solace in the words of the former president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, who once said,”I do the very best I know- the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference”.

May 2 revealed to me that, in times of storms and epidemics, humanity can come together and forget the chicanery of politics and negative partisanship to walk towards the greater goal of saving mankind.    

The team of, Luka Binniyat, Mrs Nah Gambo, Mrs Mary Sheyin Ali Barrister, among other SOKAPU officials, led by Mr. Stephen Mallan, who stood in for the chairman of the distribution sub-committee, Rt. Hon. Jagaba Adams Jagaba, proved decisive. The presence of the Chairman of the committee and former minister, Mrs Mallam and another member, Elder Auta Mamman Busa, added colour to the maiden distribution exercise. The ubiquitous presence of SOKAPU President in the entire programme provided the tonic for success.

With Hon Asake, we arrived the SOKAPU secretariat at about 10 am on Friday May 1, only to return home at midnight to catch few hours of sleep before returning to commence distribution. Hunger nearly killed me on my birthday! To serve humanity is to serve God. May God grant our people, the Nigerian people, more milk of human kindness to assist pull the vulnerable from this present deep hole of despair. God bless the donors! Please, let the donation continue.

In case you have forgotten the bank details, here it is:

Account Name: Southern Kaduna Peoples Union

Account Number: 1770196060

Bank: Polaris

For material donations, please walk to:

SOKAPU National Secretariat, No.1, Rijo Shekari Close, Off Gwari Avenue, Barnawa-Kaduna.

For further inquiries, text or call me on : 09092197515

email: simonreef927@gmail.com