President Bola Tinubu has blamed the recent stampedes that occurred in Oyo and Anambra States as well as the one in Abuja, on the organizational incapabilities of those giving out the palliatives.
The President, who spoke on Monday during a media chat in Lagos, said it is unfortunate that such stampede incidents leading to the deaths of several persons, including children, happened, but the blame lies at the feet of the organizers.
President Tinubu stressed that he has been giving out palliative care in various forms in his Bourdillon residence in Lagos for the past 25 years and has never experienced any stampede because the events are always well planned and well managed.
He urged those giving out palliatives to the needy in society to improve their organizational capacity and avoid publicising such events if they don’t have sufficient resources to cater for the crowd that may show up.
The Nigerian leader also extended condolences to those who lost loved ones or got injured as a result of the stampedes.
He said: “It’s a very serious feeling to lose loved ones. Children, particularly in Oyo State Ibadan, then followed by various other reports, but are we looking at it from organizers’ point of view or from the goodwill gesture of those trying to give out whatever they want to give?
“It is very sad that people are not well organized, we just have to be more disciplined in our society. Condolences to those who lost family members, but it is good to give.
“I have been giving out foodstuffs, commodities, including envelopes in Bourdillon, for the last twenty-five years, I have never experienced this type of incident because we are organized and disciplined.
“If you know you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to even give or publicize it.”