The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Adeola Ajayi, has gifted 7, 774 poorest and most vul- nerable citizens in the country N50, 000 each in the body’s effort to win the hearts and minds of the underprivileged.
It was learnt that the gesture is aimed at helping them cushion the effects of the severe economic hardship in the country Sources said some security heads, senior government officials, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and community leaders have been tasked with the responsibility of identifying 10 “poorest of the poor” from each of the 774 local government areas.
The gesture is estimated to gulp a total of N387, 200, 000. Some beneficiaries of the money in Oyo State praised the DG for the show of empathy and love for the poor.
A beneficiary, who gave his name simply as Pa Segun, said: “As a poor old man in my 80s, I didn’t know that a day would come when authorities would acknowledge my situation, and bless me this way. “Those that chose me were people I have never met in my life, and what they said to me was that, ‘the DSS DG loves you, and wants to give you something to support your family’.
“I was very emotional when I received N50, 000. I thought I was dreaming, and needed somebody to wake me up.” Another beneficiary, who spoke through her son, said: “Help me thank the good man in Abuja who sent people to identify with us at a time when we did not know where our only meal for the day would come.” A widow with six children said: “This thing that just happened is unbelievable.
“I did not know that any government or individual would remember a poor widow like me, who has been suffering since the death of my husband. “May God bless the big man who chose to put smiles on the faces of the poor. “Every day of our lives, my children and I will keep praying for him, because he gave us hope at a time we had given up, and waiting for when we will go (die).”
Some highly-placed establishment sources, who confirmed the development, said it is Ajayi’s soft approach to security management. A source said: “The DG, being an exceptional intelligence officer and consummate administrator, believes that beyond the guns lie the kinetic approach to addressing the security challenges in parts of the country.
“He knows that enemies of the state, including subversive elements, explore and exploit poverty as a means of radicalising vulnerable members of the public. “Therefore, reaching out to the poorest of the poor, as he is currently doing across all the 36 states, and even the FCT, is a deliberate effort towards winning their hearts and minds.”
