School feeding programme: Vendors cry out in Delta state, say N70 per child not good enough for us

Editor's note: In this report by NAIJ.com, Austin Oyibode writes about the school feeding programme of federal government in Delta state, noting the dissatisfaction of food vendors in the state

Chidinma Okoye is a primary one pupil of Abuato primary school, Asaba, Delta state. She just got admission into the school having completed her kindergarten classes at Best Brains Nursery school. Following the fact that the school children from primary one to three were fed from the federal government school feeding programme last session, she was full of expectation as she got admission into the primary school.

When NAIJ.com visited her school, she was happy to be in primary school. She told our reporter that she is enjoying the feeding from the caterers. While in the KG, she was going to school everyday with food from her parents but now she no longer does that because the federal government has taken that off the neck of her parents. At between 10 and 11am, she and her peers line up and collect their meal and eat. But prior to the resumption of the feeding on October 17, Chidinma was going to the school with a little cooler of food from her mother. This is so because the feeding resumed this term in the six week because our reporter learnt that there was delay in the payment of the caterers.

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Hence, for these six weeks prior to the feeding, Chidinma was eating from her own cooler which she took along to the school. NAIJ.com gathered that many of the children had waited for the food but their waiting seemed endless, hence they decided to feed themselves and abandon the free food from the government of Nigeria.

In most of the schools visited, our reporter learnt that many of the children were coming to school with plates but having done so for six weeks without food, they made a major decision to begin feeding themselves, hence before leaving home for school, their parents prepare food for them in little coolers to keep them engaged and fight off hunger while in school.

Caterer dishing out food for the pupils of Abuato Primary school

The children were said to have confronted the caterers when they see them in town, asking “aunty, are you not coming with food again,” but the caterers would reply them “we will come.”

But at the sixth week of resumption, the feeding commenced, a development which implies that the caterers had been paid. Head teachers of the schools, especially schools in the state capital, Asaba, gave beautiful report of how the feeding programme fared.

School authorities, pupils aplaud feeding programme

Mr. Emma Okakwu, head teacher of Asagba Primary School, had this to say when our reporter visited the school in the heart of Asaba. He said there are two children who come to the school but mother is a sweeper in one of the major roads. Okakwu said he told their mother to bring the children to school with the belief that they will get food to eat. And that actually helped the woman last term when the feeding began.

The head teacher of Abuato Primary School 1, Mrs. Rose Awunor, also paid glowing tribute to the programme. She told our reporter that the programme is a good one. “Ever since they started they have been feeding the children very well and the food is very nutritious. I do see it, it is good and nourishing.”

“They do give thedm rice, spagethi, sweet potatoes, with vegetable soup. At times, they pieces meet inside the rice. They give them egg with vegetables. At times, they give them water melon. They do give them fruits like orange and pinepples. That’s what I have observed so far. The only thing is that the food is small but it’s rich.”

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She, however, agreed that not all pupils in her school are eating the food. “Some pupils come to school with their food. Some are instructed by their parents not to eat because they have their own. Only those interested are eating.”

Festus Francis, a primary 3 pupil of Abuato primary school, said the food is very good. He listed the food they eat to include indomie, rice, plantain, potato, beans, macaroni and spagethi adding that “We enjoy the food because it is very good.”

Caterers say delay in payment and N70 per child biggest challenge

Students receiving their afternoon food in Asaba

For the caterers, it is great doing business for the federal government. Mrs. Mary Odiato who feeds children in Ogborie primary school 1 was full of thanks for President Muhammadu Buhari. For her, the programme has actually been good. She sees it as an empowerment for the caterers.

She said there is actually no problem in preparing the food. But the major challenge which is peculiar to all the caterers is the N70 per child. “To serve one child N70 is not good enough. We are appealing to the federal government to increase the money. We are just cooking because we see the children as our children. If we look at the profit margin, there is nothing in it. When we don’t have any other thing to do, we have to go with it. Kobo na money, toro na money,” Mrs. Odiato said.

Besides the insignificant financing, the delay in releasing the money for the project is a big source of concern. Odiato told our reporter: “You cook one month and for the next one month you won’t cook is not the best. You will see the children when they are on break carrying plate up and down waiting for caterers and the caterer is not there.”

She said many of the children come to school with the anticipation of eating in the school, reason being that many of their parents cannot give them breakfast before leaving for school.

Mrs. Josephine Williams cooks for children at Zappa primary school. She told our reporter that the programme is empowering women and children. But her major challenge is the inconsistency in the release of funds. This is so because funds were released for them this term at the sixth week of resumption. Hence, the children were kept waiting while many began to lose interest.

Getting the food item has never been a challeng to her. Being caterers, she said they know how to go about sorting out things, they go into the remote areas, get the items at reduced rate, hence they give the best to the children with the little money made available. She said they connect other caterers in the remote communities and the business is done but everything they do revolves around the N70 per child. Then, she queried: “How can we be okay with N70. No average Nigerian will say okay to that and I’m not an exception. It is only that it gives me joy to cook underming the challenges. I’m really happy,” she said.

Also, Patricia Monyekanayo, who feeds children at Ogbafor primary school, also said the N70 per child is not the best. For her, that is the singular challenge the caterers have. “We don’t face much challenge in getting the items because they are locally grown food. The only problem is the N70 per child. And the food we are giving them, we try as much as possible to make it nutritious. So, we have to buy the local rice, yam potatoes, plantain, you add tomatoes and onions.”

Shimite Bello, focal person in charge of feeding programme in Delta state

Kanayo, who feeds 127 children in her school on daily basis, said ordinarily one can’t buy a plate of food for N70. She added that the children are happy because they enjoy the food from the caterers. But the delay in releasing the fund is her major challenge.

“I feel bad that the money is usually delayed. When you are walking on the street and the children see you, they will say aunty, you are not bringing food for us again. It’s some how embarrassing. And you won’t go telling them what is happening. We tell them we will come.”

Amaka Odilison, who coordinates the programme in Oshimili south local government area, also lent her voice on the need to increase the amount of feeding the children from N70 to a reasonable amount. She said: “Take for instance, the small noodles in the market is about N50 and you have to add an egg to it. So, when you look at it critically, it’s nothing to write home about. They are striving because it is an empowerment programme. Since they have started, they should continue.”

According to her, the report from the school authorities indicate that “their children have kept on increasing. People from private schools are now entering government schools. So, it is a very good one. We all assume that most parents that send their children to public schools are just of the average parents who cannot afford much, but now they are getting government to take somethings off their necks. It’s a very good one.”

She said the food comes well because it is balanced, noting that the women are mothers, hence they manage things for the good of the children. For reports of some children not eating, Odilison said it’s like two percent of parents who may not want their children not to eat. She said in a school, there may be one child who may not eat perhaps because of medical challenge.

Every child in primary one to three must be fed – State focal person, Shimite Bello

Mrs. Shimite Bello, who supervises the programme in the state, told our reporter that her objective is to ensure that every child in the school is fed. She said for every child to be fed, every caterer must be cleared by the bank. She said the estimated number of children to be fed in the state is 244,000 spread across all primary schools in Delta state. She added that a total sum of N292million is spent by the federal government to feed this number on monthly basis. But she said the total amount cannot be paid to the caterers until all the caterers are cleared.

Mrs. Bello explained that the N292million will only be paid when the total number of caterers, 2115 are cleared to begin the feeding project. She said if they are cleared, each month, the federal government will spend N292million to feed the children. “The N292million is to run for a month not a term. This money is for the feeding of the children not for the payment of the caterers. The caterers collect this money to buy ingredients to cook for the children. So, it is not a profit making venture,” Mrs. Bello explained.

She said by their calculation, each woman could get N10 per child as profit. “If they grow this, they could save as much as N15 on each meal. Most of the caters are feeding 150 children. By the time we calculated, most of the meals are costing N60 per child. So, they will be able to save something. It will be more economically viable if these women have farms for themselves. If they actually become active, they can get this meal at almost no cost to them which is the whole essence of the programme,” she said.

Bello also said that there is no salary for the cooks, rather their pay is the profit calculated from each child’s feeding. When asked if the non-payment may affect the quality of food so as to save money, she said there is a monitoring team which monitors the quality of food given to the children, hence if any caterer is found to have provided low quality food, such will be deleted from the programme.

She said: “The quality of food was determined by the ministry of health. The ministry came up with what ingredients should go into the different meals. If you cook beans, we want you to add spinach or ugwu so that it will be balanced. Whatever you cook, all these vegetable must be there. Once a week, the children must eat eggs.

“We’ve given them the data base of all the farmers that farm the ingredients they need. We got that from ministry of agriculture. We made everything easy for them so that they don’t get fatigue because the amount involves is really small.”

But for the delay in the release of funds, Bello said she cannot blame anyone, whether federal, state government or the computer room involved in the analysis of data sent to them.

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Source: Naija.ng

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