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House of Representatives Urges Government to Revisit Suspended School Feeding Program
The House of Representatives urged the Federal Government to revisit the suspended National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), which was halted due to various controversies. Launched in 2004 and expanded in 2016, the NHGSFP aimed to provide nutritious meals to public primary school pupils, improve health, boost agricultural production, and support smallholder farmers.
On January 12, 2024, President Bola Tinubu suspended all National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA) initiatives, including the NHGSFP, for six weeks. This suspension has raised concerns about reduced school enrollment, compromised children’s health and cognitive development, and disrupted farmers’ income.
The House, following a motion by Mr. Muktar Zakari of the Tarauni Federal Constituency, mandated its Committees on Special Duties and Finance to engage relevant ministers in finding solutions for the program’s future success. Zakari emphasized the NHGSFP’s role in encouraging school enrollment, addressing childhood hunger, and improving school attendance. He warned that suspension of the program could lead to more out-of-school children, increased crime, insecurity, and unemployment, advocating for alternative solutions or better implementation to maintain its benefits for Nigerian children.
TV anchor Rufai Oseni makes headlines as he speaks on fuel subsidy in Nigeria. He shared that Nigeria can have fuel subsidy without the long queues at filling stations.
“When we were still paying subsidies, there were no long queues. We were subsidising. So you can still have a subsidy regime going on, and there will be no long queues because production was close by. Dangote had it. That’s just it. That argument also falls flat.
“The biggest beneficiaries of subsidy are not Nigerians. They are crony capitalists that have big infrastructure, and they do contracts. They have been the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidy,” he said.
Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu, speaks to those in the electricity sector about the usual blackouts in the state.
He speaks on ways things can change in the state and how electricity can be provided.
“We need to drop corporate egos, abandon long-standing excuses, and confront the harsh realities obstructing progress in the power sector.”
“We, state governments, used to give excuses that everything is centralised, so the Federal Government has unbundled it now. What have we done in a year and a half?” Sanwo-Olu asked.
“We take two steps forward, we go five steps backward,” he said.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared Thursday, August 20, a work-free day for public servants in the state to mark the Isese Festival.
Speaking on the celebration, he said “Ìṣẹ̀ṣe is not a relic. It is a living expression of our traditions and a celebration of Yoruba spirituality as an important part of Nigeria’s cultural and religious landscape,” he said.
He added “When the drums sound in Lagos on Thursday, they answer drums in Havana, in Salvador, in Port of Spain. Fifty-five million people and counting. Lagos is not observing a local holiday. Lagos is standing at the centre of a global heritage,” Aregbe said.
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