President Bola Tinubu has attributed the deadly stampedes during the distribution of palliatives to poor organization, stressing that adequate measures should have been in place to ensure the event was orderly.
Speaking during his first Presidential Media Chat in Lagos, the President acknowledged that while the stampedes were tragic, the organizers made significant errors in managing the event. Reflecting on his own experiences, Tinubu shared that he has been involved in organizing food and commodity distributions in his Lagos residence for over 25 years without encountering similar incidents due to proper planning and discipline.
“I have been giving out foodstuffs and commodities, including envelopes, in Bourdillon for the past 25 years,” Tinubu said. “I have never experienced this kind of incident because we were organized and disciplined.”
He advised that if organizers do not have enough to give, they should avoid publicizing such events. “Every society, even in America, has hungry people,” he noted. He pointed out that in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, distribution events are organized with clear queues and orderly processes.
Describing the palliative stampedes as a result of people’s reluctance to stand in line and their tendency to rush, the President expressed his sadness over the events. He emphasized that while it was unfortunate, the government would continue learning from such mistakes.
“This is very sad, but we will continue to learn from our mistakes,” Tinubu said. “To me, this was a grave error on the part of the organizers. But things are improving, and it doesn’t diminish our happiness for the season.”
