Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday
said the right to life as provided in the
nation’s constitution will be meaningless if
a large number of Nigerians are poor.
According to him, that is the reason why
the present administration is committed to
investing significantly in getting people out
of poverty and address issues relating to
children and other vulnerable groups.
This, he said, informed the decision of the
Federal Government to earmark N500bn in
the 2016 Budget for the Social Investment
Programmes.
A statement by his Senior Special
Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu
Akande, said the Vice-President spoke at
the inauguration of the strategic
implementation plan of the National Home-
grown School Feeding Programme, one of
the five social investment schemes of the
Presidency.
“It is a victory for a point of view namely
that the inalienable right to life confirmed
in the Nigerian Constitution is meaningless
in a society where large numbers are poor,
if government does not invest significantly
in getting people out of poverty and
address the health and education issues of
children and other vulnerable groups,” the
Vice-President said.
He said the strategic plan sets out the
partnership arrangement on how federal,
state, and local governments were to
synergise towards achieving the primary
objectives of the School Feeding
Programme.
He noted that the plan would only work
with the cooperation of Federal, State and
Local tiers of governments.
Osinbajo also emphasised the need for the
buy-in of the people, saying, “it is called
‘Home Grown School Feeding’ for the
reason that it must be owned by the
people for whom it has been designed.”
Osinbajo said the programme was not just
a social welfare scheme which gives
handouts to the poor, but “a direct
economic benefit to the target groups and
the economy as a whole.”
He said the scheme would bring real
change to the lives of over 20 million
children nationwide.
The Vice-President the four major benefits
of the programme to include to improve
school enrollment and completion and cut
current dropout rate estimated at 30 per
cent while reducing child labour; improve
child nutrition and health; increase local
agricultural production; and to create jobs
which would invariably lift families over the
poverty line into a bright future.


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Yet some people will still come to criticize this programme. Hunger and poverty does not respect anybody. If you doubt me visit the IDP camp or south Sudan.