*Group calls on FG not to cancel #40000 per bag rice project*

*.....Wants NIN to be used as a fair criteria to reach Nigerians*

*...... To open farms and food bank to help Nigerians and host 2024 Investment Dialogue soon*

A Group GCIO Nigerian Citizens Welfare Project ( GCIO-NCWP) has called on the federal government not to cancel the selling of 50kg of Rice for #40000 project as it will drive down the general prices of food and make life better for Nigerians.
Reacting to the news of the suspension of the project by the federal government yesterday,the Director General of the group, ESANEROVO AGBODO stated that the FG initiative was a good one and should not be cancelled. However he stated that the government should expand the scope to cover all Nigerians across all classes using the NIN as a fair Criteria rather than focusing on only Civil servants or distribution or selling through politicians.

He however reiterated the stand of the group as published in the Media immediately the fuel subsidy removal was announced in 2023. He said that the hunger protest today wouldn't have be necessary if the. Government had implemented some of the recommendations of GCIO-NCWP where the group stated that food Palliatives should be distributed using NIN not politicians or other channels that will make it complex for the common man to benefit from the project.

The group also recommended then that the federal government should open farms in every local government as well as partner with the National Union of Road Transport Owners and Workers to subsidize transportation for citizens until the CNG buses are ready.
"if some of these recommendations were implemented,the hyper inflation we are experiencing in Nigeria today would have been averted to an extent"
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AGBODO continued: "We spent our resources to organize a Palliatives and Social Security Summit in Abuja on November 1st, 2023 to bring stakeholders together Including serving Ministers in Presidential Tinubu's cabinet to advise government on how to manage the fall out of the fuel subsidy removal but our suggestions are yet to be inculcated in government's strategy to combat the fall out of the tough decision.
"If our suggestions were implemented a bit,it would have stemmed the sharp rise in transport fares and also reduce the prices of food stuffs because when transportation fares for food stuffs are reduced and food Palliatives distribution done through NIN,the prices of food in the open market will surely come down and the common man will not be excluded,", AGBODO added.

Just as we recommended the Palliatives distribution using NIN then,,we are stating again that unless the NIN is used randomly to sell the bags of rice or give any welfare package to Nigerians,some people will still hijack the process and the common man will hardly benefit.

We are also not resting on our oars because we have also rolled out plans to establish farms and also food banks in our little way to support Nigerians soon.
GCIO-NCWP also plans to host an Investment Dialogue to fathom ways to attract both local and foreign investments to Nigeria to boost the value of Naira and create more jobs before the end of the year.

We want to stop here and we also want to state that we will continue to make our suggestions open to the government because what we need is a better Nigeria for all.


Jeremiah Orede
Publicity Secretary