10 million Nigerian school pupils now fed daily in 32 states, says Vice President Osinbajo
*As FG launches school feeding programme in 32nd state, Yobe
*53,000 public primary schools beneficiaries cross-country
*106,000 cooks employed…Plus: 2.4m bowls, spoons distributed in 6 states
The Muhammadu Buhari administration’s National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) now feeds over 9.8 million pupils daily in 32 states as Yobe State joins the programme.
Under the NHGSFP, school children in over 53,000 public primary schools are fed with one free, nutritious meal a day, while it has engaged over 106,000 cooks in the 32 states.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, made this known in a statement he sent to The DEFENDER on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the 32 states currently benefitting from the school feeding programme are: Anambra, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kogi, Sokoto, and Nasarawa.
Others include Taraba, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Plateau, Delta, Zamfara, Imo, Jigawa, Kano, Niger, Katsina, Ondo, Edo, Gombe, Ekiti, and Yobe states.
In the second term of the Buhari administration, the programme has a target of reaching well over 12 million pupils in all the 36 states and the FCT.
In the same vein, the Federal Government has commenced the distribution of aluminium bowls and spoons for pupils in public primary schools in 6 states currently benefiting from the School Feeding Programme.
“Under the first phase of the distribution, over 2.4 million bowls and spoons would be distributed in Plateau State (314,082), Adamawa (182,144), Kaduna (834,130), Katsina (742, 689), Oyo (199, 922), Delta (136, 710) and Ebonyi (73, 513).
“The School feeding programme has not only helped to increase enrolment rates of pupils in the states, it is also effectively tackling early year malnutrition and the problem of stunting, while improving the cognitive skills of children.
“The programme has also provided sustainable income for local farmers, jobs for cooks, increasing growth and productivity in the local economies,” Akande said in the statement.
