The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned the federal government proposed plans to spend N13.5billion on feeding school children even during the lockdown period.
The students’ body in a statement, signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Comrade Azeez Adeyemi in Abeokuta on Thursday described the Federal government’s decision to continue with the school feeding programme even as schools are not opened as an avenue to further drain lean resources of the country.
According to NANS, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq’s announcement that the Federal Government would continue with the school feeding programme even as schools are shutdown is nothing but an attempt to ridicule Nigeria.
“The Federal Government’s insistence to go ahead with the school feeding programme despite criticism by Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the education sector has shown that the programme is another way of perpetrating a fraud on another large scale.”
The students’ body questioned the rationale behind the continuation of the programme “when the priority of the government should be on finding a cure for the deadly Coronavirus pandemic.”
“We suspect that the continuation of feeding school children at their homes is another sham and a smokescreen hope at deceiving Nigerians. “We are calling for the suspension of this structured daily looting and fraud under the guise of home feeding of pupils.
“Where is the money to execute this programme coming from giving the fact that the government has always been crying of no money?” NANS queried the source of the proposed N697million to be spent daily amounting to N13.5billion a monthly on the programme, describing the decision as not only “reckless spending, but also misplaced priority.”
