By Nwobodo Chidiebere
When I heard the news that the government of Enugu State under Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has inaugurated a steering committee to pioneer free school feeding programme for primary pupils of one to three, my heart was filled with joy, not because of the initiative itself alone but the timing.
The initiative is coming at the time when most families cannot afford three square meals a day as a result of the economic crisis bedevilling the nation. It is no longer news that millions of school children go to classes on empty stomachs on daily basis because of their parents’ financial incapacitation.
Not too long ago, the Prof Uche Eze-led Steering Committee was mandated to ensure that no school child of this age bracket learns on a raw stomach in the state. Prof Eze, who also doubles as Commissioner for Education, was given a one-goal assignment to boost the morale of school children in Enugu State via this noble school feeding initiative. It is only a people-oriented government which empathises with the suffering of its citizens would dare embark on such social programme when many other states cannot pay the salaries of its workforce.
Apart from job opportunities this school feeding programme will create in the state, it will directly impact on enrolment of pupils into primary schools. So many children would be motivated into schooling as a result of this innovation. School attendance will geometrically increase. Academic performance will be affected positively, because no human brain functions properly when the stomach is assailed by hunger.
In fact, it has been scientifically established that no other human activity consumes more energy than intellectual exercise. Therefore, every right step taken by the Enugu Government in this direction should be highly commended. Other state governments should borrow a leaf from the Enugu State Government in this regard. Based on the age-long adage that a hungry person is an angry person, I wonder how a hungry child will manage to concentrate while the teacher is busy teaching. The school feeding initiative will equally rub off on the emotional state of the pupils in primary schools—which represent the foundation of modern education. If a child is properly fed, at least one balanced diet a day, he child tends to be less hostile but instead becomes friendly, not only to his school or family, but the society at large.
According to psychologists, imbalanced diets and irregular feeding patterns effect the emotional wellbeing of our children. It ruptures their primal empathy—the primary link of emotional rapport with their society. This anti-social emotional trauma, if not checked, develops into criminal tendencies in the near future. Primarily, by taking care of a child’s feeding pattern, the Enugu State Government is invariably building a child with good emotional state. This concept will reduce security votes being spent to curb crimes in the state in years to come.
The School Feeding Initiative will deal severely with health-related issues emanating from acute malnutrition of school children in Enugu State. This programme if properly implemented will assist parents, Federal, local and governments in curtailing diseases like kwashiorkor commonly associated with malnutrition in children. It will reduce pressures being put on inadequate health infrastructure in the state as a result of reduction in nutrition-related sicknesses.
Against the backdrop of falling crude oil prices in the international market, which has grossly affected the revenue of the nation, the school feeding initiative in Enugu State will not only empower primary school pupils in the Coal City State but prod the state into the path of diversification. Agricultural activities will definitely receive a boost when this noble idea is robustly implemented in the state, because Enugu State primary school pupils will be fed from rich and untapped agricultural potentials in the state. It will create thousands of jobs for the unemployed and produce wealth for the state. The state Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, will also be enhanced.
Farmers will be highly motivated to cultivate as a result of high demand for farm produce that will be required to feed Enugu primary school pupils. Locally made foodstuff—which are more nutritious than chemically-preserved imported ones, will be exposed to school children during the school feeding program. It will spur more people into agricultural activities like cash crop cultivation, poultry, fishery, animal husbandry and processing of agricultural produce into finished goods for exportation not to other states alone but neighbouring countries. It will indirectly make the state to become food sufficient.
As stated previously, there is no better time to initiate such grassroots-inclined programme than now. Hunger caused by economic hardship is taking its toll on the Nigerian populace. Many families can barely feed let lone provide food for lunch for their school-bound wards daily. As a result of the current economic hardship, only few families can afford three square meals for their children and wards. For the average Nigerian family, three square meal is an expensive luxury.
Therefore, the free school feeding programme can be likened to the Biblical manna from heaven. So, all hands should be on deck to make this bold and well-thought-out initiative a success.
Mr Nwobodo Chidiebere, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja.
