HURIWA Challenges Humanitarian Minister To Debate Over School Feeding Programme

The Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), has challenged the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, to a public debate on how funds earmarked for the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme were spent.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, Daily Sun reports.

Minister challenged to public debate over expenditure of NSIPs funds

“HURIWA is by this media communication inviting the minister for a publicly covered debate this Wednesday with HURIWA so Nigerians can be told what amount this government spent feeding school children who were dispersed and on holidays during the lockdown.

“HURIWA wants to show Nigerians that the ministry of humanitarian affairs may have fed ghosts and claimed to have fed real Children”, it stated.

The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) is a Federal Government school feeding initiative geared towards improving the health and educational outcomes of public primary school pupils.

But, Onwubiko alleged “that the ministry is a cash guzzling machine and a financial disaster.”

The statement further claimed that feeding children when schools were closed did not sound convincing.

“The minister in charge of that disastrous ministry of government must be made to render proper accounts of how her ministry reportedly claimed to have blown away billions of public fund to feed school Children during the three Months of Covid-19 lockdown when clearly the school Children were all at homes in different parts of the Country,” it stated.

HURIWA also based its argument on the claims that many Nigerian children were suffering undue hardship, including lack of access to food.

“Experts have told us with abundant scientifically empirical evidence that 50% under-five children are malnourished in all parts of Nigeria and especially in majority of the North East of Nigeria,” it stated.

Hence, the association maintained that the Minister should be transparent enough to prove them wrong if actually the monies were judiciously spent.

The statement further reads:

“This despicable and opaque feeding programme happened despite a groundswell of well informed opposition to the disastrous idea only because the executioners had allegedly choreographed the primitive ways of allegedly siphoning public funds under the guise of feeding ghost school children.

“If we are wrong, the minister should prove us wrong with facts and figures for all to see and judge.

“This minister should be bold enough to accept this invitation for a public debate which we will host at a good venue in Abuja.”