The Federal Government might be distributing palliatives in the northern part of the country, but blind persons in Niger State are eating mangoes to survive as the lockdown in the state persists.
WuzupNigeria reports that state governments nationwide have ordered either total or partial lockdown as the coronavirus [Covid-19] pandemic ravages the world. Nigeria has so far recorded 32 deaths and 1095 confirmed cases in 27 states.
The leader of the blind people in Minna, the state capital, Rabi Abdullahi, claimed the disbursement of palliatives in the state is lopsided.
Abdullahi said his people have resorted to eating mangoes in order to assuage their hunger due to the non-availability of food.
Speaking to journalists at the House of the Blind in Minna, Abdullahi said the palliatives distributed by the state government were inadequate. He said the grains did not go round his people who were more than 300.
He said:
“The government brought to me eight mudus each of rice, maize and millet and 12 packets of spaghetti.
“I am the leader of the blind and we have over 150 men as members in Minna, not counting the women. Some of the men have two or three wives and none has fewer than two children.
“So, if you calculate it, you will see that we are more than 300.
“What can eight mudus of rice, maize and millet with 12 packets of spaghetti do? It is not enough in any way.
“In my family alone, I have three wives and 30 children.”
Abdullahi lamented that his people were complaining about the palliatives while some of them even accused him of hiding some of the palliatives.
“It is unfortunate that my people did not believe this was all they brought. They accused me of taking everything and bringing out something that was not realistic for us to share.
“But some of our members were there when they brought the food.”
Jumai Bello, one of the blind members who has six children, said she heard about the distribution of grains but did not get any as they said it was not enough to go round.
She said that their daily meal includes eating mangoes in the morning and afternoon while at night they manage cornmeal with dry okra soup.
Another blind member, Amina Umar, said she was lucky to get a share out of the food they brought, saying it was not even enough for a meal.
“They gave me one cup of rice, One cup of millet and one cup of maize but it was not enough. We had to buy more to compliment before it could be enough for us,” she said.
