School feeding programme during lockdown

Child Development and Concern Foundation (CDCF), with focus on child protection and development working with indigent school children and their parents, has observed that the Federal Government’s intervention on school feeding programme to three locations of FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States during the COVID-19-induced lockdown period which gulped over 500 million naira lacked the required transparency and honesty required of such a good and essential intervention.

According to the figures given by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (MHADMSD), Mrs. Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the total number of households reached in the three targeted areas marked as pilot for the intervention was 127,589 based on the summation of (FCT- 29,609, Lagos- 37,589, Ogun- 60,391) and not 124,589 as claimed by the Minister.

Also, the analysis of the financial figure given for the take-home ration of #4200 per household of 3 children spent per month to the total beneficiaries of 127,589 should be #535, 873, 800 and not #523,273,800.

The flaws identified in the figures given is a reflection of inadequate planning and execution of the project which discredits the sincerity of the intervention programme.

The minister didn’t reveal to the public how the authorities assigned to execute the programme were able to reach and assemble the school children during the lockdown period.

It is a known fact that authorities of the various schools are not known to have the ability to locate the residential houses of most of their schoolchildren. How were the children contacted and brought together each day for the take-home-ration?  She has failed to convince the public that the fund has not been spent on imaginary schoolchildren.

The Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP), a provision of Universal Basic Education Policy 2004, was not being properly implemented even before the COVID-19 era. HGSFP which actually started in 2016/17 does not cover all the states in the federation where it is being implemented.

This discriminatory way of implementing the programme formulated as government policy does not give credibility to the government as seriously caring for the children who should be properly cared for and prepared as leaders of tomorrow. A nation that cares for the future must adequately care for the children.

If the government wants to truly exhibit its good intention in its handling of palliative programme including HGSFP, the programme, should be assigned to the community development associations through the local governments’ administration

Iskil Yussuf,

Ibadan.

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