Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, yesterday distributed stimulus package to vulnerable persons as well as citizens who cannot fend for themselves due to age or incapacitation across the 18 local government areas of the state.
Speaking at Cross River State Property Development and Investment Limited (CROSPIL) in Calabar during the distribution of the stimulus package, Ayade declared that he had already approved N30,000 as monthly stipend for beneficiaries of the automatic employment for 8,000 youths between the ages of 18 to 35 starting next Tuesday.
He said: “Distributing food is not the real palliatives, the real palliative is in giving people jobs. Palliative which is temporal is for poor and vulnerable who cannot fend for themselves.
“We are starting the real palliative on Tuesday. Whether you are a gardner or cleaner, whatever you can do, we will give you a job but we can only pay you 30,000 if you know you need it and want to earn that amount please put down your names and phone numbers; you will be contacted.
“The food will be shared through our traditional rulers to the 18 councils. We want it to get to the grassroots; this is not about political party. It is about governance; we will also give to churches and various religious organisations to distribute because they know the people well.
“This is a time to show humanity. Humanity does not know colour or ethnicity. We need to stop spreading fear about the pandemic. What we need is to show the people love, especially at this critical time. Fear and hunger is killing people even more than the pandemic.”