The founder, Stanbic Bank, Atedo Peterside, has advised the rich and influential as well as states and local governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to borrow a leaf from the strategy deployed by the Zinox Group and Konga to deliver succour to poor and needy families across the country as COVID-19 pandemic bites harder.
Peterside, also the chairman, Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think-Tank, gave this advice in Lagos as a guest on television.
Atedo, who said the country needed to improve some of the approaches it was deploying in fighting the pandemic, identified three pillars in the fight. These, he said, are medical, governance and communication.
However, he disclosed that safety nets, deemed as one of the most important seven priority items identified by the Anap Foundation Think-Tank under medical, was an area that a lot more needed to be done.
”Actually, the number of poor people in Nigeria is estimated at 80 million by Nigeria Bureau Statistics (NBS) out of 180 million people. If you want the estimated 80 million poor Nigerians to remain in one place in view of the lockdown, you have to have a plan for them. I am not one to waste my time blaming government. If you do the numbers, we have an estimated 80 million classified and confirmed as being poor, add the next 20. I assume that the next 20 million can feed themselves because they are not poor. It then means that the richest 80 million can feed themselves and can probably also contribute or help to feed the bottom 80 million.
”Even if one person in the top 80 million feeds at least one person in the bottom 80, we have solved the problem and that is without government intervention. A member of the Anap Foundation COVID-19 Think-Tank, Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, owner of Zinox Group and Konga, is going out to feed 7000 families every day for 14 days. This is to show you that the rich people can help the government solve the problem. So, we want more examples like Stan Ekeh.
”What we don’t want is rich people constantly being distracted. Instead of coming to join people like Leo Stan Ekeh to feed the poor, suddenly somebody dangles that there is some money at Central Bank, the same rich people will leave the task of feeding the poor, get distracted and begin to chase or apply for loans for the future.’’
