Following the tough situation Nigerian children faced since the advent of deadly COVID-19 pandemic, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, said his administration would be expanding the Home-Grown-School-Feeding Programme by targeting an additional three million children who will receive one free meal a day.
President Buhari, while delivering his speech at this year’s Children’s Day tagged: “Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the well-being of the Nigerian Child: The way Forward” held in Abuja, admitted that the COVID-19 Pandemic had brought a lot of hardship to the children, parents and care-givers.
The President, whose message was delivered by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, lamented that a great number of children have lost their parents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, it appears from available statistics that a majority of children have been spared from the direct impact of COVID-19 Pandemic, the effects of the pandemic on Nigerian children is enormous. Within the period, it has been reported that the rate of violence against children has increased.
He said endorsement of the safe school declaration is not sufficient as implementation or the project is very critical to the prevention and response to attacks on education, including those targeting women and girls.
President Buhari, therefore, called on state governments and security agencies to rededicate themselves to this project to protect children from incessant attacks and ensure that their education suffers no setback.
“This administration is therefore deeply concerned about these worrying incidences and has put in place several interventions to ensure that all our children are protected from incessant attacks, kidnap, violence, abuse and exploitation and live in a holistic and protective environment for a guaranteed and prosperous future,” he assured.
Earlier, the Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Dame Pauline Tallen, said the effects and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for children are immediate and, if left unattended, may remain with the country for long.
While calling on children to be of good behavior at all times, take their education serious and obey constituted authorities at home and in schools, the minister said her ministry was deliberately engaging a participatory approach that aggregates the concerns and priorities of Nigerian children, while ensuring that their human rights concerns are systematically protected.
“We cannot allow evil minded persons continue to inflict and pose grave dangers to our children. If we do not provide an enabling environment for children to grow as responsible adults, they will surely come back to haunt us as miscreants. This is why mothers and fathers, as well as care givers must rise up to the challenges of proper nurturing and upbringing of their children and wards,” she advised.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Fake Website Asking N-Power Candidates To Verify If They Have Been Shortlisted For N30,700 Grant
CLAIM: A viral post on WhatsApp is asking N-Power candidates to verify if they have been shortlisted to receive ₦30,700 Batch C grant
VERDICT: FALSE. Registration can make you lose your WhatsApp account to scammers.COVID-19: FG targets additional three million children for school feeding
COVID-19: FG targets additional three million children for school feeding
and then