The national school feeding programme – The Sun

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed at the recent National Economic Summit in Abuja, that the Federal Government will commence implementation of its social investment programme at the end of this month. The programme, which was a key component of President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral campaign, has been long in coming and had suffered a few deferments.
The four main components of the programme are the recruitment of 500,000 graduate teachers, feeding of public primary school pupils, provision of loans to artisans, women and small-scale traders, and payment of N5000 monthly stipend to the most vulnerable and weak in the country.
Osinbajo said the plan for implementation of the programme has reached advanced stages, with the selection of the first batch of 200,000 unemployed graduates as teachers almost completed. The Homegrown School Feeding initiative is also expected to kick off in many states this month.
It is with the school feeding component of the programme that we have so many concerns. While we commend the Federal Government for the laudable initiative, we are worried about the decision to limit the scheme to   pupils in Classes 1 to 3 in selected states. The scheme is also said to require counterpart funding by the states, which means that the children in states that cannot jointly fund the scheme with the Federal Government may not benefit from it.
How practicable is this plan? Can children in senior primary Classes 4 to 6 be expected to look on while their younger mates enjoy school meals?  This could be a recipe for discontent in the senior primary classes.
This limitation on the coverage of the scheme is probably as a result of the paucity of funds occasioned by the sharp decline in government earnings. We believe that this is the time for the government to put on its thinking cap. It should properly think out this programme to ensure its success. This is more so as the proposed take-off date is here already.
With the sharp fall in oil earnings, our view is that the government’s objective of improving the nutritional status of Nigerian children may be better served if only a certain part of the feeding scheme, probably the protein component, is started with for all primary school children in the country. Government can start with the little that it can handle by possibly providing an egg every other day, or a sachet of milk every day, for all schoolchildren, instead of whole meals.  That way, government will be able to provide for all the children and monitor the scheme better. The idea that millions of schoolchildren will be fed with the foodstuff that will be grown in each state from this month does not sound realistic. It is rather simplistic. The logistical challenges of the implementation of this scheme are gargantuan. It requires very serious planning which we are not certain has been done.
The good intention of the government to improve the nutrition of schoolchildren, increase school enrolment, provide employment and promote local participation in the economy can be realised with the provision of certain basic nutritional items for all the children, with no state and no child left out.
We need to avoid the sense of alienation that the limitation of the programme to only Primary 1 to 3 kids can engender in the other equally young and impressionable kids that will be left out. At the end of the day, what is required is a programme that is sustainable and impactful.
It would be sad if government rushes into and out of this programme. The pressure of being seen to be fulfilling a major campaign promise is obvious, but even the best intentions of government can be modified in line with the present difficult economic realities. Let us start where we can and gradually upgrade the programme as the economy improves.