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Children, Teachers Lament As FG’s School Feeding Programme Suffers Setback
Teachers and children have complained about the stoppage of the school feeding programme. The teachers complained that the merchants on the programme are yet to resume operation since the beginning of a new term in 2022.
The efforts of the federal government to keep the children through the school feeding programme seem to have a hard time with vendors failing to resume in various schools.
It was reported by Punch that schools across states like Benue, Akwa Ibom, Egun, Kano, Cross Rivers, Bauchi and Ogun were experiencing very hard with the programme as vendors have failed to turn up because of non-payment of their funds.
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It was gathered that the vendors have completely stopped providing food for the schools, even though their operations were never consistent in the first place.
In Makurdi, the Benue state’s capital city, teachers and pupils said the operation of the school feeding vendors became epileptic with some children getting food while others would get nothing.
They also said that since the school resumed its second term in January, the programme vendors are yet to resume.
According to Terry Orduen, a pupil in LGEA Primary School, Idemekpe, Makurdi: ” the vendors only served the children food for only three days throughout the year 2021.
“Since the inception of this second term we have yet to see the cooks in our school. In 2021, we were fed for three days.”
The staff said:
“For example, the cooks hardly bring enough food. The food is always inadequate to serve the number of pupils in the school.“
“The food is always inadequate and when you ask the cooks they will not give you a satisfactory answer as to where the problem is.”
The same condition was discovered to be the problem in Ogun, Enugu, Cross River and many other states.
In their move to defend thier selves, the vendors said that they are yet to receive money from the federal government for the programme.
One of the vendors who simply identified himself as Agbo said the last time, they were paid was in September 2021.
He said they have been following up with the FG on why they are yet to be paid and the reason for the contractors failing to supply them with items needed for the job.
He added that they were also made to undergo some re-evaluation process while they are still waiting for their money.
The vendor said:
“They have made us undergo revalidation and we have completed the process, and what we are waiting for is the release of funds so that we can start feeding the children.”
Also, the Benue state, focal person for the programme, Damsa Terries, debunked the claim that vendors were being owed money.
Terries also said that the FG gives money first before the cooks make food available in schools.
He said:
“You don’t cook when money has not been given. It is when you get alert in your account that you know the number of pupil’s you are going to feed.”
