Deltans, this is no false alert! It is serious and we cannot afford to over-look it. The Delta State government has just announced that it will commence the feeding of primary school pupils in public schools across the state. This is coming against the backdrop of the fact that primary school teachers across the state are being owed between 4-6 months salaries while Local government workers are owed between 8-12 months salary arrears.
Governor Okowa through his Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mr. Kingsley Emu, announced in Lagos at a public function recently that the Delta State government will commence the feeding of primary school pupils commencing from 2017. I want to alert Deltans that this is an avenue for Okowa to cover up a monumental fraud which he has arranged and perfected.
The amount involved is not only shocking but mind-bogging. The Commissioner said the feeding will be restricted to primary 1 to primary 3 pupils and each will be fed with N70 per day for 200 days in a year. It should be noted that there are about 1,044 public primary schools in Delta State. Taking a minimum average of 35 pupils in a class with two arms, that gives a total of 70 pupils in each class. And if this is multiplied by 3 classes (i.e. pri 1 to 3), it will give 210 pupils in each primary school on average. 210 pupils multiplied by 1,044 primary schools in the state will give 219,240 pupils in the state.
If a total of 219,240 pupils are to be fed with N70 per pupil per day, this will give a total of N15,246,800.00 (Fifteen million, two hundred and forty six thousand, eight hundred naira only) per day. This figure multiplied by 200 days in a year will give a total of N3,069,360,000.00 (three billion, sixty nine million, three hundred and sixty thousand naira only) for 2017.
It would be recalled that the School Feeding programme is one of the United Nation development goals which countries including Nigeria subscribed to a few years ago when the Nigerian economy was at its best. Even then only a few states in the North attempted to implement it. The Kaduna State government under the El Rufai started it for some months but with the dwindling revenue accruable to the state, it has discontinued it. Kano state government is trying to implement it but it has not been easy even though it is one of the states where parents and pupils are literarily begged to go to school.
For Okowa and his government to think that this is the best time for it to implement free food for primary schools in the state is quite suspicious and, for the discerning minds, it is not out of place to suggest that it is just another avenue for him to cover up or explain away a dubious and fraudulent expenditure of the state scarce funds. More disturbing is the fact that Gov. Okowa is currently owing the teachers who are teaching the children he wants to feed several months salaries. Okowa is owing the Local Government workers in all the 25 Councils in the state between 7 to 12 months salaries. Pensioners are groaning in pains over several months of pension arrears in the state.
Out of the 1044 primary schools in the state, only about 40 were renovated by the immediate past government in the state. More than 80% of primary schools in the state are in different state of disrepairs. Even in the cities of Warri and Asaba, only primary and Secondary schools that are sited along major roads are renovated. In some schools such as Esedo primary school and Army Children Schools all in Effurun, some of the classrooms’ roofs have been blown off and have become waterfalls; headmasters offices and staff rooms have become lakes whenever it rains even as pupils sit on bare cracked floors to learn. That is the situation. Anybody who cares can go and verify this. So, what is the sincerity of Gov. Okowa to provide food for primary school pupils against the backdrop of this scenario.
As has been observed above, free food for primary school pupils was one of the cardinal projects of the United Nations Millenium goals a few years ago. Nigeria keyed into it when the economy was buoyant. Therefore it is not a bad idea. But the concern is that if Governor Okowa is insisting on feeding the children at this time when he cannot pay salaries of the parents and teachers of these children, then there is something sinister lurking around the corner.
If Gov. Okowa is sincere with his plans to go ahead and feed the children, then Deltans must insist on him fulfilling the following conditions:
a) He must ensure primary school teachers and Local Government Councils workers salaries are paid up to date and assured of regular payment of their salaries without fail.
b) He must make provisions for the children feeding in the 2017 budget and the State House of Assembly must thoroughly scrutinize it.
c) If it is passed into law by the State House of Assembly, then the following implementation procedure must be followed:
i) A committee comprising Parents/Teachers Associations (PTAs) of schoo
ls across the state, NUT, members of the Civil Society and a few NGOs must be set up to implement the programme without any interference by the government or any of its agencies.
ii) This committee will invite food contractors for tenders and choose the qualified ones to provide the food.
iii) The amount budgeted should be paid into a special escrow account only to be assessable to the executive of the committee.
iv) The committee will be made to submit report of the implementation to the State ministry of finance which will ensure the account of the committee is audited monthly to ensure compliance.
If Governor Okowa finds the following conditions inconveniencing, then he cannot insist on going ahead with the programme. If he commences the programme as announced by the Commissioner for Economic Planning, then it is obvious he is out to use it to siphon and milk dry Deltans in spite of the strangulating economy of the state.
