Former humanitarian affairs minister, Betta Edu has commended First Lady Oluremi Tinubu for launching the South-South phase of the National Community Food Bank in Calabar.

The programme is aimed at children under six, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers. Three banks were opened across Cross River’s senatorial districts. Officials say more than a thousand people have already been enrolled nationwide and thousands of food packs issued as the scheme reaches its fifth geopolitical zone.

Edu called it a practical intervention for households under pressure and said it could also give local farmers a buyer. She thanked Governor Bassey Otu and his wife for hosting the visit and praised a new RHI/TETFund ICT centre at the University of Cross River State as a parallel investment in skills.

Mrs Tinubu tied the food banks to the administration’s food-security and health goals and asked states to adopt the model if it is to last. The launch sat beside other gifts on the same trip, including federal relief for businesses hit by the SPAR fire in the state.

Supporters present it as care reaching the vulnerable. Critics of first-lady projects usually ask how targeting is verified and whether packs become a standing system or a tour-stop. For now Calabar has the banks, the enrolment numbers and a political blessing from a Cross River figure who once ran the humanitarian ministry.