Kunle Adelabu
The efforts of the Managing Director of the Polaris Bank PLC, Mr Tokunbo Abiru, and wife in providing relief materials in form of food items for thousands of people across the Ikorodu Division and also getting those items to their door steps have received commendations and praises.
The food items, which were distributed by the Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS) on behalf of the couple, was the largest individual sponsored relief program in Ikorodu Division.
It took the distribution committee led by the Deputy Chairman of IKODASS, Alhaji Kolawole Fatai, eight days of ceaseless navigation of nooks and crannies of communities in the division in an effort to reach targeted residents to distribute the over 7,000 cartoons of food items.
Each cartoon contained 7 packs of noddles, 3 packs of macaroni, 2 packs of sphaghetti, semovita and wheat.
Before the distribution of the food items to various communities, the distribution committee had initially distributed part of the cartoons at centre points like the Ayangbure palace to thousands and later adopted ticketing method where an advance team went to various communities to liaise with communities leaders and others in identifying vulnerable and others in need and issued tickets to them before relief materials were distributed to them.
Number of beneficiaries reached in various communities was determined by the number of the identified vulnerable and this varied between 50, 70, 100 and more packs.
At the Lasunwon – Lambo and Apeka communities which are directly opposite the Lagos State Polytechnic main campus, 114 and 150 cartoons were distributed to residents respectively on the last day of the distribution exercise.
It was prayer and commendation galore as residents described the intervention by the Abirus as directly impactful and urged government to learn from the way relief materials were taken to the real beneficiaries.
Mr Sunday Olusanya, Chairman of the Joint Community Development Associations (CDAs) in Lambo –Lasunwon community, described the gestures from the Abirus as well organized and novel in their community and also appreciated the donors.
“The total package is actually 114 from my counting. We really appreciate the kind gesture because it has never happened that an individual would extend his hands of fellowship to our community in this lockdown period”, he stated appreciatively.
“The gesture is meant to encourage people to stay indoor and not to come out as directed by the government. We really appreciate the gesture of Mr & Mrs Tokunbo Abiru.
“On behalf of all the residents of Lambo – Lasunwon community, we say a big thank you to Mr & Mrs Abiru.
“The message is very clear. Government alone cannot do it and due to this, we have seen many people contributing to assist the government”, he stated while charging other privileged individuals to emulate Mr & Mrs Abiru in helping people in needs.
Olootu Matthew Adebayo Sodipo, Olootu Lambo-Lasunwon royal family, also speaking with THE IMPACT, stated that the relief materials extended to his community by the Abirus were the first by individuals or government.
“We have started praying for Mr and Mrs Tokunbo Abiru for this kind gesture because we have not seen anybody extending anything of such to us since this COVID -19 lockdown started”, he revealed.
“We thank them sincerely and pray that God will continue to enrich them.
“We also thank those that brought these materials for handing them over to the beneficiaries in a transparent and orderly manners”.
In his message to the government, the head of the Lambo – Lasunwon royal family enjoined government at local, state and federal levels to take a cue from how the relief materials sponsored by the Abirus were brought directly to people in the community.
“My message to the government is that it should copy the system adopted by the team that distributed the relief materials donated by Mr and Mrs Abiru, by taking the iitems to the door steps of the beneficiaries and handed them to them physically.
“It will go smoothly in this manner, because once you get to their houses and call names, it will not create a rowdy situation being witnessed in other places where many gathered at a point to get the relief materials and in the process breach the directive on social distancing”.
He called on government at all levels to ensure that there relief packages get to Lambo – Lasunwon community, stating that residents have been abiding by the government’s stay-at-home order.
“We are asking local, state and the federal government to remember us in the distribution of relief materials because the only relief packages we have received were from an individual.
“This is my message to the government because somebody that we asked to stay at home during lockdown without food and water will be forced to go out to fend for himself and his family and this will defeat the purpose of the lockdown”, he stated.
The Secretary of Lambo-Lasunwon Royal Family, Okegbegun, Ikorodu, Prince Albert Oyejola Aina, also commended the gesture by the Abirus and the way the relief packages sponsored by them were distributed by IKODASS.
“We really appreciate this gesture from Mr and Mrs Tokunbo Abiru. This is one of a kind gesture that we have never seen before in this community.
“We also appreciate the Chairman, Ikorodu-Oga Development Association (IKODASS), Otunba Ganiyu Abiru, and others that came few days to explain to us that they were bringing relief materials to us.
“We appreciate them all and pray that God shall continue to strengthen them. God will abundantly reward them for bringing relief to many people in our community”, he prayed.
Alhaji Kolawole Fatai, Deputy Chairman, IKODASS and Chairman, De-Grooms Motors, who coordinated the distribution of the relief materials, also speaking on the eight days exercise with THE IMPACT, described the experience as fantastic, stating that the distribution exercise achieved its aims and objectives as those the food items were meant for actually received them.
“The experiences in the distribution of the materials across the nooks and crannies of Ikorodu Division was very fantastic. We had two batches for the distribution”, Alhaji Fatai stated.
He explained that the difficulties encountered with the distribution of the relief materials at the initial stage led to the adoption of ticketing method. According to him, tickets were issued to beneficiaries days before the food items were taken to them and this, according to him, helped in effectively getting the relief items to those that truly need them in a way that aligned with measures stipulated by the government in containing the spread of the virus.
“In the first batch, we encountered many issues in our efforts to ensure that the distribution exercise was not crowd and in maintaining the social distancing measure issued by the government.
“But in the second phase of the distribution, we adopted ticketing system by ensuring that we issued tickets to the beneficiaries before the distribution of the food items and through this, we were able to distribute effectively and without crowd at all the point of distribution.
“The distribution of the relief materials took us eight days to go round all the communities scheduled for the gesture. We were able to cover all the Local Government and Local Council Development Areas in Ikorodu Division.
“We were able to distribute over 7,000 cartoons of the food items to vulnerable people, old men and women and less privileged people who cannot afford to feed themselves daily and others in that category. These people were our targeted audience.
“In doing this, we were able to penetrate the division and reached places that I have never being to before like Oke-Agbo, Igbalu, Oreta, Offin, Bayeku among many other places. All the nooks and crannies that of areas we think these relief packages would benefit our people were touched”, Alhaji Fataii explained.
He expressed confidence that the aims and objectives of the donors of the relief items were met as those that benefited were those that are actually in need at this critical period.
“Yes, the aims and objectives of the distribution exercise was effectively achieved. If we can see,more of individuals like Mr & Mrs Tokunbo Abiru that are willing to assist the less privilege, there will be less poverty and hunger in our society.
“They have done very well for the people by providing over 7,000 rich packages of food items with each containing 7 packs of noddles , 3 packs of macaroni, 2 packs of sphaghetti, semovita and wheat”, the Coordinator of the distribution of the relief items stated while commending the donors”.
Alhaji Luqman Sonibare, Chairman, Community Development Committee (CDC), Ikorodu Local Government, who is also a member of the distribution team, commended the donors for impacting on the lives of many people in Ikorodu division.
“I thank Almighty Allah for the lives of the donors, Mr & Mrs Tokunbo Abiru. He is a worthy son of Ikorodu and he has done a great thing for the residents of lkorodu division”, he said.
“The method adopted by the distribution committee in getting the relief materials to the people really assisted in allowing many people to benefit from the packages.
“Through this, we were able to meet with the Community leaders who assisted in distributing tickets. The use of tickets assisted greatly in managing the distribution exercise”, Alhaji Sonibare added.
