Minister of Labor and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige claims that under the national school feeding program, the Nigerian Federal Government has spent $100million in feeding 10million students.
Olajide Oshundun, the ministry’s head of press and public relations, reportedly announced this in a statement on Friday, according to NAN.
When meeting Mary Leornard, the US ambassador to Nigeria, Ngige stated that the government’s efforts to combat child labor and get kids back in school included the school feeding program.
He said that the federal government’s social safety programs were designed to tackle the issue of poverty.
“We have introduced the national school feeding programme under our social security, to lure children back to school,” he said.
“As of today, we are feeding 10 million children across the country. We have spent nearly $100 million on this.
“We have also taken more schools into the areas prone to child labour and made education free in the whole country through the Universal Basic Education and the Child Rights Acts.
“For the people with disability, we introduced Disability Peoples Commission, to give them full and comprehensive aid.
“This is so that they will not feel that they have any disability. If you don’t support someone with disability, it is outright poverty.
“Nigeria and Liberia are listed there and the fund is $5 million, estimated to be spent on the project. We think that it is a step in the right direction.
“Just last week, we got information of another $4 million for anti-child labour activities in Nigeria.
“Ondo state was chosen as the pilot state for the fight against child labour in the area of cocoa farming. We think this is a good step in the right direction.
“Because over the years, from the time we visited for African Growth and Opportunities (AGOA) conference under the department of labour and trade in Washington in 2017, we had made it clear that the US government has to take practical steps for us to follow.”
The minister voiced alarm about how vulnerable families were using young children to hawk on the streets, work on cocoa fields, mine sites, and engage in other menial labor.
“We can’t be mouthing child labour and we leave it unattended to when we know that most of those engaged in it are those trying to make up for family needs,” he said.
“This is because the family income is not enough, owing to underemployment or unemployment.”
Additionally, he urged the US government to help Nigeria’s efforts to combat child labor by providing capacity-building and logistical support.
