Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, with other officials of Delta state government inspecting the food store.
Ovedhe Hezekiah – Warri
Delta state Governor Senator Ifeanyi Okowa has flag off the national food distribution programme of the private sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CA-COVID-19) at the event centre in Asaba the state capital.
Okowa stressed that his administration will continue to partner the private sector and individuals in mitigating the debilitating effects of COVID-19 on the less privileged in the three senatorial districts of the state.
READ : FUTA suspends student who hacked Premium Times’ website
He applauded CA-COVID-19 for deeming it necessary to pull their resources together to make the donation aimed at ameliorating the plight of the downtrodden in the society at ‘this critical time that hunger tends to abound in the society’.
Okowa noted that the donation was apt and timely as the corona virus pandemic has negatively affected small and medium scale businesses, emphasising that the kind gesture from CA-COVID would go a long way in addressing the problem of hunger among the economically weak in the state.
While saying that his administration would continue to take steps to alleviate the plights of residents of the state, he called on the committee set up to distribute the food items at the local government levels to ensure that the items get to the downtrodden spread across the state.
He warned that the distribution of the food items should not be based on political party lines but to genuine residents of the state that are really less privileged.
Advertisement.
The governor affirmed that COVID-19 should not be seen as a death sentence, adding that those with COVID-19 related symptoms should quickly go for test to ascertain their status before treatment, just as he said that more isolation and treatment centres have been established in all parts of the state.
Earlier, the representative of CA-COVID in Delta State, Mr. Lucky Ighade said that the donation was part of measures to assist states and federal governments in handling the challenges of hunger and starvation among poor families across the country.
Ighade who disclosed that CA-COVID had donated medical facilities and food items to the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory, Abuja, harped on the need for Nigerians to obey guidelines of the NCDC so as to flatten the curve of the infection.
RELATED STORY : ‘Schools in Delta have complied satisfactorily with COVID-19 protocols’
He commended Governor Okowa for the steps taken to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the state and stressed the need for Nigerians to stick to all NCDC protocols against the pandemic.
The highlights of the flag off included the inspection of the food warehouse and the presentation of food items to some households at the event by Governor Okowa.
