By Isaac Olamikan
As we move towards the acclaimed ember months starting from September, Barrister Kenneth Imansuangbon (aka The Riceman) is getting set to commence his yearly philanthropic gestures of providing succour for the people of Edo State in the Christmas season.
The Riceman is crossing his Ts and dotting his Is as he plans ahead. For more than twenty years running Barrister Imansuangbon have always embarked on this goodwill gesture to ensure that Edolites across the 18 local government areas that make up the state benefit from his large heart irrespective of their social status, ethnic or religious inclination.
Information gathered from those who should know is that he expends many hundreds of million naira on the project every year. Barrister Imansuangbon whose DNA is filled with human compassion traverses the length and breadth of the acclaimed heartbeat state to dole out his freebie to whoever is fortunate to be in the vicinity when he is sharing the bags of the staple(rice) which is one of his free gifts during the yuletide.
Barrister Imansuangbon also keeps some bags of rice aside which he allots to some notable elder statesmen/women who because of being advanced in age cannot withstand queuing up in a crowd to be given their own bags of rice.
Rice sharing is not the only philanthropic gesture of Barrister Imansuangbon during the Christmas. He also donates huge sums of money and materials to residents of homes of the aged, motherless babies homes and residents of Internally Displaced Persons(IDP) camp.
As the Riceman embarks on his gesture he has the full backing of his family, his delectable wife, Kate and his lovely children, who on most occasions accompany him on his statewide movement to cushion the effect of the economic downturn on households.
Just a few hours ago information filtered in that the federal government has approved five trucks laden with bags of rice for each of the 36 states of the federation to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
The FG’s move is coming at a time when the people of Edo State are waiting to celebrate a bigger dose of the bags of rice palliative per household as initiated by Barrister Imansuangbon which he does every Christmas season for more than twenty years running and which on average involves more than ten trucks of the staple every year.
So it is not out of place to describe the acclaimed Riceman as a visionary who sees beyond the moment and whose vision for a better served Edo State goes deep into the years and even beyond.
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