- Constituents demand committee overseeing the distribution to be upright
By Olukayode Michael, Damaturu
Some members of the constituency of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan have asked that for maximum impact of his empowerment programme, he should put in place a committee of highly respected individuals to do the distribution.
The Senate President as at last weekend distributed numerous empowerment materials, including buses, ambulances, tricycles, electric power transformers, computers and computer accessories, text books, grinding machines, sewing machines, vulcanizing machines, fertilisers and water pumps, among others.
He had also in addition, given a total of 300 people, 50 from each of the six local government areas of Yobe Zone C, his constituency, a cash support of N250,000 to enable them start or expand their businesses.
But speaking on the gesture of the Senate President to journalists on Monday, some of the people of the area, said the efforts of the Senate President would only yield fruit if it gets to the targeted people and are not duplicated among few persons who are connected to some highly places politicians.
They complained that gifts from representatives of the citizens to lift their followers out of poverty are always hijacked by those assigned to distribute the empowerment materials.
Among those who spoke to journalists include Malam Adamu Yahaya, Ibrahim Musa, Suleiman Abba, Idriss Abubakar and Maryam Sani.
They all agreed that politicians in Yobe state are trying their best to lift their followers out of poverty but all their efforts are rendered useless due to lack of competent coordinators in charge of distribution.
“Believe me or not, whenever there is a gesture of this nature from our top representatives, it is only few people that benefit the gesture and they are always the same people who were the beneficiaries of similar gesture in the past”, one of them, Ibrahim Musa said.
One her part, Maryam Sani said most of the beneficiaries of such gestures are not from the poor or the less privileged ones in the area but the families of well to do individuals who supposed to help others.
They therefore called on the leaders to find other strong ways of assisting their people.
The residents however commended the Senate President Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan for his gesture.