The Governor of Cross River State,Prof. Ben Ayade, has distributed stimulus package to vulnerable persons and citizens in the 18 local government areas of the state.

Distributing the items on Wednesday at CROSPIL in Calabar, Ayade said he had already approved N30,000 as monthly stipend for beneficiaries of the automatic employment given to 8,000 youths between the ages of 18 and 35 starting from Tuesday next week.

He said, “Distributing food is not the real palliatives, the real palliative is in giving people jobs. Palliative which is temporal is for poor and vulnerable people who cannot fend for themselves.

“We are starting the real palliative on Tuesday. Whether you are a gardener or cleaner; whatever you can do, we will give you a job but we can only pay you N30,000. If you know you need it and want to earn that amount, please put down your names and phone numbers; you will be contacted.

“The food will be shared through our traditional rulers to all the 18 LGAs. We want it to get to the grass roots; this is not about political party, it is about governance. We will also give to churches and various religious organisations to distribute because they know the people well.”