School feeding programme will be back stronger- FG

The Director of Basic Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Folake Olatunji-David, has assured Nigerians that the school feeding programme suspended by the Federal Government would soon be back.

President Bola Tinubu, on January 12, suspended all programmes of the National Social Investment Programme Agency for six weeks.

The four programmes administered by NSIPA are N- Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, and Home Grown School Feeding Programme.

A statement by the Director of Information, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Segun Imohiosen, said the suspension was based on the investigation of alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its programmes.

The According reports that nine weeks later, the programmes, including the school feeding programmes, have yet to resume.

Speaking during the launch of a non-governmental organisation, Create that Change Development Initiative
on Friday, Olatunji-David stated that the school feeding programme would be back and better.

She added that planning was still ongoing to ensure the effective implementation of the programme.

Olatunji-David said, “We all know that we have the homegrown program that is being put on hold for now. It is coming back stronger and better. Before now, it only covers a segment of primary school. The president has said it will be for basic education in its entirety.

“We are planning. We don’t just want to come out without planning to ensure that as soon as we receive the directives, proper implementation is done. If it is the whole of primary school or basic education, it will be done properly. We await further directives on this.”

She commended the organisation, adding that the programme lined up by the NGO would help advance the well-being and development of children, adolescents, and the society at large.

Speaking, the founder of the NGO, Mrs Sharon Ayeni, stated that she relocated to Nigeria to establish the organisation to address pressing challenges and uplift those in need in Nigeria.

Ayeni said, “So I’m here in Nigeria with a mandate to help turn around Nigeria to get s back on track towards eradicating poverty, supporting those in need, and making a real difference in the lives of children and the youth. There is a lot of work to be done if Nigeria intends to operate and compete at the same level as other countries.

“The vision CCDI has is big. Our goal is to take our flagship programme Enhancing Nutrition, Exercise and Reading Initiative to every state in the federation, we call this the ENERI effect! Our next target is to implement ENERI in three new schools, and we also have other initiatives in the pipeline, including:
Build Her Initiative; Toilet Angels Initiative and Teacher-to-Teacher Mentoring Initiative. “