RE-PROPOSAL FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF FOOD STAMPS BY SENATOR ALI NDUME AND THE PROPOSED NEW CARD BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

RE-PROPOSAL FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF FOOD STAMPS BY SENATOR ALI NDUME AND THE PROPOSED NEW CARD BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

T:TOGETHER E: EVERYONE A: ACHIEVES M:MORE

I believe that our Challenges cannot be greater than the sum total of our personal capacities and capabilities.

I say this all the time.

There is no challenge that we are faced with as a nation and people that we cannot trounce with collaboration.

Secondly, I believe in reputation, just like I learnt from my regular fulani friends, that I related with during my years of practice as a young Geologist sinking boreholes across the length and breath of Kaduna State, from Kachia to Birnin Gwari back then.

If you offer a fulani man a medication 💊 for any form of pain [shiwo it’s called], he would first ask you if you have experienced such a pain before ? if that medication was what you used ? the effect after taking it? That’s leaning on the power of reputation.

The only thing that validates declarations is reputation. I also say this all the time and it’s so true.

So I took the advantage of the public holidays to also rummage through my old files and bags of documents, and BAM! I stumbled into many booklets of my FOOD VOUCHERS that I gave to my constituents back then in 2013-2015 to cushion the harsh socio economic realities of life then.

My “FOOD VOUCHERS” a form of FOOD STAMP in other climes is titled “HAVE A MEAL ON ME”.

It was essentially for those in the vulnerable population, pregnant women, visibly financially challenged people, the infirm in the hospitals and my forever “mumu button” the young people in school or out of school.

The initiative was a great success but short lived because i got kicked out by the political leviathan at the time.

The initiative came as a response to the perenial cash hand outs to the young persons which they just exhaust in a jiffy, and then start to call me 🤙, and my heart breaks whenever I hear “I am hungry Sir i.e “ebi npa wa”.

So I had a pre-arranged agreement with known food vendors, sellers and eateries to have a basic discounted food rate and that anyone who comes with my voucher should be given food to that value [ I later added a drink by popular demand].

Then it was a steady source of income for the ownere of the selected restaurants and food spots because I redeemed the costs on presentation of the vouchers, that I match with the uniquely numbered voucher stubs when issued.

Well, it ended when the system kicked me out as I said.

When I left the parliament, [2011-2015], I introduced the idea of an enduring social protection initiative for young people, taking to a new level the care and concern for this vulnerable population, a unique discount platform specifically for young people [ the platform titled NAIJA GREEN CARD] again it was very successful and a number of young people and by extension parents and guardians benefited greatly from this initiative. By the second year it was Mastercard certified and having multiple opportunities beyond discounts on products and services. It had become a lifestyle relevant product.

So today, on sighting these vouchers that I used back then, I remembered the proposal of Senator Ali Ndume, Borno South, to the Federal Government to consider and add the introduction of FOOD STAMPS to the social protection bouquet.

This brought back fondest memories of impact, from almost nine years of my personal intervention in the lives of my constituents.

I also remembered that the Federal Government is also trying to introduce a card with multiple capabilities, again my mind went to our NAIJA GREEN CARD, the Pioneer and Premium social protection card for young people, which also brought a lot of positive emotional recollections.

A particular state had over 32000 young people on that platform, and it impacted their lives tangibly.

I think we can bring these initiatives back and make it better and bigger to the benefit of our teeming young people and their parents.

These initiatives then fit into and become crucial part of an expanded social protection framework of the Federal Government promising more deliverables in addition to the limited and limitations associated with distribution of palliatives, where sometimes the innocent ones looking for what to eat to survive rather get “eaten” by vagaries of survival, most unfortunately.This scenario can be averted if these initiatives are considered.

These initiatives WILL DEFINITELY HELP GREATLY.

I believe my experiences while delivering on these two initiatives could assist and add a new dimension to the value propositions of the social protection efforts of the Federal and State Governments.

Our Challenges cannot be bigger than the sum total of our individual experiences and proven capabilities.

Barka da Sallah to Everyone. Where is the Ram meat 🍖 location 🤔 😕

#fortheloveofcountry,

Congressman Bimbo Daramola.
I am #BimboEkiti.