The Federal Government said it has spent over N6.2 billion to finance the National Homegrown Feeding Programme as part of the Social Investment plan of the current administration. The Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media Publicity, Laolu Akande made this known in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
According to him, the amount was in fulfilment of the Administration's quest to significantly implement the social investment programme this year. He explained that following the huge investment, about three million children have been captured this year.
“Specifically, at the last count, a total of N6,204,912,889 has been paid out to 14 states during the school year ending August 2017. The 14 states that have been covered under the School Feeding Programme are Anambra, Enugu, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Delta, Abia, Benue, Plateau, Bauchi, Taraba and Kaduna"
The statement added that "so far, a total of 2,827,501 school children are currently benefiting from the School Feeding Programme, which is well on course to achieve the Federal Government’s projection to feed over three million pupils this year,’’ he said.
The statement disclosed that the scheme has so far generated over 33, 895 jobs for cooks across 14 states. He gave a breakdown of funds as follows:
"Anambra received N693, 013,300 while 103,742 children had been fed thus far, with 1,009 cooks paid. Enugu state got a total of N 571,877,400 and 108,898 children have been fed so far, with 1,276 cooks paid. In Oyo state, a total of N490,296, 800 was released by the Federal Government for the feeding of 107,983 children, with 1,372 cooks engaged. Osun state received a total of N1,000, 394,888 for the feeding of 151,438 children. A total of 2,863 cooks were engaged in the state".
“Similarly, Ogun received a total of and N1,042,217,400 for the feeding of 231,660 schoolchildren, while a total of 2,205 cooks were paid. Ebonyi received N344,633, 100 for the feeding of 163,137 pupils so far, with a total of 1,453 cooks paid while Zamfara received N402,295,600 for the feeding of 107,347 school children with 1,127 cooks were engaged.
The statement added that Delta received N225,896,300 for the feeding of 141,663 pupils and 1,364 cooks engaged in the state while Abia and Benue received a total of N128,763,600 and N337,157,800 respectively to feed a total of 61,316 and 240,827 pupils.
“Plateau and Bauchi states received a total of N133,187,600 and N214,909,101 for the feeding of a total of 95,134 and 307,013 pupils respectively in the states. Also, 1,418 cooks have so far been engaged in Plateau state, with 3,261 in Bauchi state.’’
Akande further said "Taraba received N120,284, 500, adding that 171,835 pupils had been fed while 2,596 cooks were paid. He concluded that Kaduna state received N499, 985, 500 while 835,508 pupils had been fed so far and 9,857 cooks were paid under the programme in the state."
