POOR PEOPLE DON’T EAT EGGS’ – GOV ENO

The Akwa Ibom State, governor Umo Eno says the poor in the society do not eat egg.

Governor Eno made the remark during an enlarged State Executive Council meeting.

At the meeting, he was presented with the bill establishing the Bulk Purchase Agency to sign into law.

The executive had forwarded the bill for the establishment of a Bulk Purchase Agency to the State House of Assembly weeks ago.

It was his administration response to tackling the ever increasing prices of commodities and its effect on the people.

With the law, the State government through the agency will buy items in bulk and sell them to vulnerable people at a subsidised rate.

As stated in the law, the agency has three staple food items – rice, beans and garri on its menu.

When the items are bought, the State government will sell them at 10kg each and done once a month to the vulnerable people already enrolled on the state social register.

But one person among those who attended the ceremony queried the modalities that was employed in selecting the three food items.

The attendee was of the opinion that garri and rice are carbohydrates while beans is the only protein on the list and suggested the inclusion of egg as source of protein for the malnourished children in the society.

But the governor dismissed the appeal and said: “Poor people don’t eat eggs. Let’s look at staple foods,” the governor responded, while emphasising that the programme, being an intervention, will not last forever.

“We all know that there is real hunger in the land. Our people need food, so as a government, we proposed that we intervene in the high cost of food in our state.

“The only way we can do that is to set up an agency that will do a direct intervention in the market and get food to our people at a reduced price – that is what the agency seeks to address.”