The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has commended the State’s chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for the transparency and success of the Christian Feeding Programme (CFP), set up by his government to feed the poorest of the poor in the State amid the harsh economic realities.

The governor gave the commendation when he received the report of the Committee in his office, reeling the impact and success of the programme across the 18 local government areas of the State.

He said, “Things are tough in Nigeria. It is not getting any better at all. The initiative is to assist us in putting smiles on the faces of Edo people. We want to obtain more data on the poorest of the poor to enable us to reach out to more citizens with other initiatives and put them into a safety net to see how we can support them and make life better for them.”

Obaseki added, “Things are not getting any better in the Country so we need to go ahead and step up with the second phase of the programme.”

On his part, the Chairman of Edo CAN, Apostle Irkpono Omoike while thanking the governor for the trust reposed in the Christian leaders, said, "We are here to present the report of Christian Feeding Programme which you launched in March this year.

“After the launching of the programme, a committee was put in place to midwife the programme and you immediately released N1 billion for the pilot phase of the programme. The committee went straight to work as we collected data from our churches and located where the poverty index is high.

"We are here to submit the documentary evidence including photographs and flash drives for the record covering the 18 local government areas of Edo State.”

According to him, “The first phase of the programme was successful as 90 per cent of the allocation went to churches affiliated to CAN while the other 10 per cent to other churches.

“107 churches were covered by the programme and 270 communities benefited through the local churches, thereby benefiting 50,000 families and vulnerable citizens of the State.”

He added, “We are able to achieve because of your commitment which serves as a drive to members of the committee.”