By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini
Angry youths in Gombe State have looted Ramadan palliative supplies reportedly meant for distribution by Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The incident occurred as part of a Ramadan feeding program launched by Seyi Tinubu during his visits to northern states for Iftar celebrations with residents and political leaders.
Seyi’s initiative, aimed at assisting the less privileged during the holy month, has sparked a wave of mixed reactions on social media.
While some welcomed the gesture, others criticized it, arguing that the north deserved more sustainable support than temporary palliative aid.Shamsuddeen Bala Mohammed, son of Bauchi State Governor, voiced his displeasure on Facebook, urging Seyi to implement long-term empowerment programs.
He suggested that the youths in Bauchi needed job opportunities, business startups, and digital skills training rather than food parcels.
“Teach our youths how to fish rather than feed them for one day,” he said.
In Gombe, the distribution of palliative items, including rice, sugar, oil, salt, and pasta, quickly turned chaotic.
Video footage showed youths unloading and carting away cartons of food from a truck, with some throwing the items to others on the ground.
Two trucks containing 3,500 cartons of food had been allocated to the state, but while one was reportedly distributed, the other was intercepted by the angry youths.
Observers have suggested that the distribution might have been sabotaged by those left out of the initial handout event, which took place at the state’s APC Secretariat.
Seyi’s outreach initiative, while framed as part of the Renewed Hope Youth Engagement program, is also seen by some as a strategic political move to strengthen his father’s political foothold in the northern region, where there is still some resistance to his re-election.