TheCable

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has praised Aliko Dangote, billionaire businessman and president of the Dangote group, over the donation of 80,000 bags of rice to Lagosians.

The business mogul flagged off the distribution of the 80,000 10kg bags of rice to the vulnerable in the state on Wednesday.

Speaking at the flag-off, the governor described Dangote as a “Nigerian that has chosen to be different”, adding that the gesture would help to alleviate the hardship of the economy on the poor in the state.

“You have choices but you have made the right one which is caring for the vulnerable. I appreciate Mr. Aliko Dangote for extending his kind gestures to the people at the bottom of the pyramid and we are grateful for supporting us in government,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“There is a lot of global disruption in different parts of the world, and it is a tough time to be in a position of leadership.”

On his part, Dangote said the distribution of the bags of 10kg of rice was a demonstration of the Aliko Dangote Foundation’s (ADF) commitment to upholding the values of compassion and solidarity that are at the core of humanity.

He said over one million 10kg bags of rice would be distributed to reach vulnerable people in all the 774 LGAs of the country.

“While our traditional Ramadan food distribution has been focused on the Muslim Community, we recognize that the current circumstances where a significant proportion of Nigerians across the nation are experiencing severe hardship due to the prevailing high prices of food, require that we broaden our programme to cover communities of all faiths,” the billionaire businessman said.

“This is why we are extending the Ramadan initiative to cover all the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory as a testament to our commitment to supporting our communities in line with our core values and the spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan.”

Dangote said the distribution of the rice is in addition to the daily sharing of 12,500 loaves of bread in Lagos.

He stressed that with the initiative, the foundation aspires to ameliorate some of the burdens faced by vulnerable communities across the state.