Diversion Of 56 Bags Of Rice Meant For People Living With Disabilities: The Case Of When privilege Is Abused

Diversion Of 56 Bags Of Rice Meant For People Living With Disabilities: The Case Of When privilege Is Abused. 

There is no gainsaying the fact that leadership of the people is given in trust and a privilege that shouldn't be abused or that should not make the leader take for granted the led. Worst is when the led as in this case, are People Living With all forms of Disability. This is the scenario playing out itself currently in Cross River State following the release of rice palliatives in the state. 

Very reliable information at our disposal has it that a total of 200 bags of rice were allocated and released by the State Palliatives Committee to People Living With Disability (PLWDs) in the State through the Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development whose Commissioner is Bishop Mageret Ene-Ita. This bags of rice it is gathered were to be distributed 10 bags each for the 18 LGAs, with additional 20 bags for the leadership of the group across the 18 LGAs. Unfortunately, the leadership of the Ministry who is given this assignment on trust became not trustworthy in its distribution as greed took the centre stage, propelling them to divert 56 bags of rice (2 bags from each LGA allotment plus additional 20 bags) meant for the physically challenged such as blind, the lame, the hearing impaired, and people with other forms of disabilities in the state. This action we gather where carried out in league with a few of the leadership of the association of PLWDs in the state. This is is not only wicked, inhumane and Carlous but a clear indication of the corruption in public office.

If there is a group or segment of the population that is most deserving of palliatives in these times of economic hardships, it is the People Living With Disability. Why then should one even contemplate of diverting palliatives meant for them? In the very words of His Excellency the governor during his inauguration of the newly appointed Commissioners, he stated thus the governor said, “You are not just answerable to me, but God. So, all your actions and interest must be guided by God. If you did not know how to serve before, you are not coming out to lead alone; you must learn to serve our people". This recent event  is a negation from His Excellency's the People first Vision, and if not properly investigated and perpetrators brought to book is capable of portraying the state government in bad light to the global community. This is one event that must not be taken lightly if the government is to be seen as committed to promoting positive values and prioritizing humanitarian issues.

There are videos, written and audio evidence at our disposal to this claim which are verifiable. This is brought to the fore considering the fact that we are aware that the State Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development has been making frantic efforts to confuse the masses on the truth. We are also privy to an article from the Ministry's Media Team currently in public domain, alleging the sponsorship of the protest which was staged by some of the PLWDs to the Minsitry of Humanitarian Affairs as being sponsored by the Commissioner of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, a situation we consider as not only laughable but also a desperate attempt at concealing the truth. Besides, it is very unethical and unprofessional for a Ministry to publicly accuse another Ministry within the same government of such action. This is a mockery of governance and an act of ineptitude in leadership. Some of the questions begging for which the State Ministry of Social Welfare must answers are; were 200 bags of rice palliatives released for PLWDs in the state?, how many were distributed per LGA and who received them? This is because it has also been reported that the leadership of the association of PLWDs in some LGAs have not received even a grain of rice for distribution to their members.

If the APC government in the state is indeed serious with providing governance that is people oriented, then we call on it to carry out a thorough investigation of this report and make the findings public in order to enforce sanity in government and promote good governance.