During the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, the robust school feeding programme of the federal government could not have cease, having introduced additional palliative measures to cushion the effects of the world ravaged scourge.
This will be counter productive to an existing policy of government that guaranteed healthy living not only to families but to many of their dependants, even while on compulsory and unplanned holidays.
Under the supervision of Umar-Farouk Sadiya’s Humanitatian Affairs, Social Development and Disaster Management Ministry, the imperatives and possibility was brought on board to sustain the generally embraced policies along with the new innovations.
Even though, at that prevailing circumstances, ordinary Nigerians that formed the chunk of parents of students enjoying the school feeding programme before the events of COVID-19, were also directly affected by the sudden global health emergency.
It will be unwise for the Ministry to insulate any of these actors or beneficiaries, hence the genuine ideals of convening the world applauded empowerment and intervention policy of the federal government, towards the welfare of the vulnerable.
But, for many Nigerians who strongly believe, still lies in the ‘Business as usual’ connotations, whiping up sentiment on the possibility of any underlying sharp practices became the other of the day.
In its transparent and people centered programmes, basically from the transition of the N-SIP programmes from the presidency with no visible bottlenecks, it became good riddance to bad rubbish for the Humanitatian Affairs, Disaster Management to take full charge to ensure deployment of school feeding arrangement, even outside the school period.
The detail analysis from the breakdown given by the Minister on how the school feeding were deployed, even during the lockdown without any encumbrance, bring to fore further due process embraced by the new Ministry under Sadiya Umar-Farouk’s arrangement.
It had also douse needless altercations and insinuations being bandied by many Nigerians, as to the workability of the programme even while the pupils were put out of school as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
This positive developement was arrived using the same method and procedure that was used while the children were in school and on holidays, since that does not mean, they will not eat from the house or starved away from school.
It had also complement greatly other measures put in place either in palliative, payment of N- Power beneficiaries, Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), Trader Moni anchored by the Ministry, and deployed through the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
What Sadiya’s N-SIP was able to achieve through a well thought out arrangement, is the overall digitization of the entire process beginning from all the phases of social Investements, so as to have direct impact on the beneficiaries devoid of any hitches.
There is no gainsaying the fact that what transpired during the lockdown on the school feeding programme fell short of expectations, since the respective states of the Federation had expressed full commitement and willingness of the Federal Government to improve on the programme.
This programme under the new Ministry, was not the usual government good intentions laced with poor execution, but meant to accelerate human capital developement, self sustenance and good living.
With Sadiya Umar-Farouk’s legacy and leadership of N-SIP, no doubt, given the enabling environment, will exterminate poverty, bring about self reliance and self developement.
Abubakar Yusuf, a Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja
