Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has launched distribution of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Christmas gifts of rice to the five Southeast states, as part of the President’s palliative measures to alleviate the suffering of the people.
He advised church leaders, who came to take delivery of the gifts at the secretariat of Imo State branch of Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), Owerri to remember the Tinubu administration in their prayers.
Uzodimma thanked God for his mercies that made it possible for the people to overcome the challenges of 2023, noting that 2024 would be better for all.
The governor, who thanked the men of God for finding time to be part of the event, reminded them that on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu introduced some reforms meant to recover the economy, reduce hardship in the country, strengthen the Naira, grow the economy, create jobs for the unemployed and make Nigeria great again.
He said although some of those policies came with initial pains such as high cost of items in the market and generally, high cost of living in Nigeria, “the policies are meant to address these pains.”
Uzodimma recalled that towards the end of last year, the federal and state governments distributed palliatives in Imo State, doing their best to send the materials to the nooks and crannies of the state and conscious of the fact that Southeast is predominantly inhabited by Christians.
“Eighty per cent of people living in the Southeast are Christians,” he said, adding that the Yuletide is widely celebrated in the area.
The governor, who expressed the President’s commitment to ensuring the well-being of the people, stressed the significance of providing relief and other support to citizens, particularly during the festive season.
He said the bags of rice they came to launch the distribution with, neither came from the state nor federal government, but were donations from President Tinubu to Christians as gifts to the Southeast
Uzodimma said he involved Imo State CAN to ensure seamless distribution, since all Christians in the zone were under the umbrella of CAN.
He said Imo State Government would support CAN with logistics to convey the bags of rice to Southeast states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo.
He urged Christian communities in the Southeast to pray for Tinubu’s administration to do better, having laid foundation for a prosperous country with the ambitious 2024 budget already signed into law by the President.
“Never in the history of Nigeria has anybody released such huge sum of money as an annual budget,” Uzodimma added.
Imo State CAN Chairman Rev. Dr. Eches Divine Eches hailed Uzodimma’s efforts in ensuring that the welfare of the people is taken care of.
He described him as “a caring governor and a lover of God and mankind, who promoted the interests of the Igbo on the national stage.”
He also lauded President Tinubu for his gifts to Christian communities in the region.
