By Fola James
Top Nigerian lawyer, Afe Babalola has faulted the home feeding school policy of the federal government, describing it as a scam.
The Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has earmarked over N13 billion for the programme at a period when school children have been forced to stay at home due to the corona virus pandemic.
Many Nigerians, including parents have also faulted the programme which they claim could lead to the diversion of huge public funds.
The outcry, perhaps, pronged President Buhari, to on Tuesday direct the Department of State Services, DSS, ICPC and EFCC to tract contractors handling the school feeding contracts.
Babalola, a senior advocate of Nigeria and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ekiti state faulted the policy on the basis that the government lacked the requisite data to trace the addresses of the parents of the pupils, the target beneficiaries.
The legal luminary stated this during his congratulatory message to Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, the new chief of staff recently appointed by President Buhari.
He said the funds meant for the project should be channeled to providing support for the health sector so that schools in the country are re-opened.
Speaking in Ado Ekit, the state’s capital, the SAN said “These are some areas which I believe deserve your immediate and urgent attention.”
He said the school feeding funds should be used to purchase Polymerase Chain Reaction Machines, face masks, sanitisers and Serological Test Machines.
Babalola said “These safety measures will enable the higher institutions to reopen because the hygienic status of their campuses would have been enhanced.”
This is the appropriate time for you to recommend to Mr President to immediately put in place measures that will address the aftermath of COVID-19.
This is also the appropriate time to recommend to Mr President to put in place policies and measures that will encourage the production of home-grown vaccines to combat the deadly COVID-19.”
He advised the new CoS to ensure policy change so that President Buhari could get quality advise during his tenure as the President top adviser.
According to him “Under you as COS, those who have useful advice for Mr President should be allowed easy access to the President.
Your assignment as the COS this time round is coming at a very trying time for Nigeria and the world at large having regard to the raging COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating consequences on the nation’s economy, its education and life generally”.
Most parents have also faulted the policy insisting that their wards are not likely to benefit from it.
In spite of wide spread condemnation of the programme, the minister of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management and Social Development Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq has insisted that the federal government will go ahead with it.
The programme has already kicked off in some northern states, including Ogun, which on Tuesday, received food items from the ministry.
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