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The Federal Government recently disclosed that 9.9 million pupils in 56, 000 Primary schools in Nigeria have benefited from the School Feeding Program , suggesting  that this achievement, to a great extent, has impacted positively on the worrisome standard of education in the country. 

Nigerians dispute this claim, while stressing that government has done little or nothing to overhaul dilapidated school infrastructure, replace damaged desks and  chairs, recruit qualified teachers, ensure prompt payment of teachers'  salaries and  provide relevant teaching aids.

This is made more problematic with the appointment of those who are not technically fit to oversee the education sector.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Gran Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the lack of proper monitoring mechanism of the program has made saboteurs to use it to enrich themselves. Excerpts :

Do you think the school feeding program of the Federal Government has  made a positive impact on the standard of education at the Primary school level ?

 We need to appreciate the Federal Government's efforts under President Muhammadu Buhari for venturing into the feeding of pupils in our primary schools because the government before him never heeded to the clarion call for  free mid-day meal for our children at their formative age, whereby balanced diet would ever have direct impact on their growth and their reasoning faculties.

However, as good as the policy is, the program has suffered a lot; because of  its poor implementation .

In the first, place it does not cut across board, considering the number of public schools in Nigeria.

If the figure the government claims to have attained, is to be reckoned with, we have more than 9.9 million children  in our public primary schools and the number of schools is more than 56,000.

Apart from these lapses, the Federal Government does not have any serious monitoring mechanism, giving way for saboteurs to enrich themselves through the program.

The connivance between some fraudulent education officials, some Head Teachers and the food vendors, has made it possible to shortchange the children because there  are cases of some schools where one egg is usually shared into 16 places while the  the quality of food is poor in most cases.

The major objective of the program is not only to serve the children with balanced diet, but to enable children of the poor to equally attend school as well as to increase  the number of children who attend classes; courtesy of the relief the mid-day meal must have brought about for the poor parents, whose children had earlier been denied access to basic education.

In terms of statistics, therefore, for class attendance there has not been a remarkable increase.

Worse still, the government officials and elite sponsoring this program of mid-day meals have failed totally to patronize public schools, but instead send their children and wards to either  expensive  choice private schools, ignorantly assessed to befit their status or rather send them overseas or to neighboring countries considered to be functional education friendly.

If their children or grand children attend these schools, government would never be at the mercy of relying on false information, regarding the fairness of the program and correctness of the impact, the program must have had on pupils, school performance and the needed improvement in class attendance.

Government needs to establish an independent body, saddled with the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the program, with adequate transparency and accountability.

This would enable the barriers of project implementation with impunity to be broken, for government's efforts to yield the desired results.

Generally, therefore, government must equally charge the mass media, most especially the electronics, to embark on sensitization and assessment reports through the peoples' parliament for it to have accurate  and reliable data through the pulse of the nation. This would bring offenders to book and would serve as deterrence to  those who might have such intentions.

The program is laudable but implementation and the low involvement of the children of the elite, serves to weaken the expected effectiveness of the program as well as serving as threats because it is very hard for the people to feel the impact due to the various listed barriers and acts of sabotage that are yet to be addressed.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has declared that  the scheduled meeting between members of the National Joint Civil Service Negotiating Council and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is inimical to the interests of Nigerian workers.

The AWC made this declaration known through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

‘’Meeting at this very critical period is very dangerous for the labour movement and Nigerian workers. We are afraid, government is attempting to buy over the labour leaders and so after the meeting labour leaders would start singing another song.’’

‘’We therefore urge Nigerian workers to be ready to take personal action in their various work places, while the AWC insists that workers would never accept another table that does not reflect the interest of Nigerian workers’’.

‘’To this end, we have started mobilizing in Ibadan, to lock up the Federal Secretariat complex indefinitely on Monday 29th July, 2019 in protest against the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage and insecurity in the country, if the meeting on Wednesday between the labour leaders and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation is not positive.’’

‘’The AWC calls on workers across the federation to convoke meetings and decide their fate, irrespective of the agitations by the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and the Trade Union Congress(TUC), Comrade Emelieze stated.

The Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita recently disclosed that the workers were making unrealistic demands.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to implementing the new national minimum wage and that is why the presidential committee on the consequential adjustment arising from the minimum wage has been sitting to deliberate on it.

“And in fact, it has sat with the union leadership within the public service to come out with the consequential adjustment arising from the new minimum wage. There were a few, what I will call unrealistic demands from the unions’’, Mrs. Oyo-Ita stated.

The Head of Service also disclosed that the new national minimum wage was targeted at the low income earners, and as a result the Federal Government would not allow the demands of the Senior Staff unions to affect its implementation.

Just last week Friday, Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the 58 yer old daughter of nonagenarian, Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fashoranti was felled by the bullets of yet to be identified gunmen at the Ore junction in Ondo state, Nigeria. A cross section of Nigerians have condoled with the family of the bereaved. The Federal Government has also sent its condolences which has now become a tradition in most recent times.

However, the security situation in the country is worsening by the day.

In this interview, Founder, Spiritual Head and Gran Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that no Yoruba son or daughter, regardless of economic status, religious and political persuasions should give in, to the lure of money for any reason. Excerpts :

What is your reaction to the gruesome killing of the daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fashoranti ?

First and foremost, the general state of insecurity in the country is very disturbing and in history, I have never known any government performing to reasonable expectations, under an hostile environment of insecurity.

The age long of insecurity during the 20 years of our Democratic experience shows our reluctance to develop Nigeria and the high level of unpreparedness of all the emerging leaders till date in Nigeria ; in making us to continue to witness orgies of government commiserations in the face of non performance.

The essence, under rationality theory, of changing government through electing new leaders is to maintain or improve upon the areas of strengths and opportunities for development to appreciably emerge while the new leaders are expected to restrategize to minimize or prevent the areas of the weaknesses of the successive governments of the past and to seriously help the entire population in taming and replacing the areas of threats which fundamentally would have caused a viscose friction in the will of the progress and efforts of the past movement.

However, for Nigeria’s history, contrary has been the case.

The various security summits, for example, by the Yorubas, has always been like the barking of a dog already chained to a place because even that of the State Governors was not only ceremonial, but without adequate preparation to save the Yoruba nation from the embarrassment of the day.

It is very unfortunate that Mrs. Olufunke Olakunrin, the daughter of Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fashoranti became another victim, it affects every Yoruba in particular and Nigerians in general because Pa Fashoranti has for long been at the forefront in fighting the cause of the advancement of the Yorubas in the area of unity and freedom and equity and justice in the wider Nigerian society.

No amount of commiserations from all of us can wake up the innocent victims of insecurity, including Mrs. Olakunri.

Suffice it now to say, that the Yorubas must be the first in the vanguard for the promotion of inclusive society where those who can walk the talk should be given the chance to come together to place the Yoruba agenda above other considerations.

No religion, no ethnic group, political persuasion must have a place under the goal of promoting inclusive society, but credibility, commitment to Oodua nationhood and the determination of purpose to have safe and secure Yorubaland, with right territorial integrity.

No Yoruba person, therefore rich or poor, aggrieved or otherwise, must allow him or herself to be bought over through the evil spirit of money mania which has been the root cause of our value erosion.

Internally, we have more than sufficient paraphernalia of authority to manage and defend the cause of Yoruba unity; if the heroic spirits of our fore fathers, whose heritage we must not allow anybody to destroy, is to be above every Yoruba son and daughter’s considerations.

In unity, the Yorubas can make it without any external considerations.

The All Workers Convergence has expressed disappointment over President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to ensure the implementation of the N30,000 new national minimum wage very soon.

The AWC made its position known through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

‘’We the Nigerian workers are disappointed in Mr. President and we urge him to correct himself by ensuring that in the next seven days all the dust surrounding the payment of the new national minimum wage is settled, if actually he is serious with his promises. What we have been hearing from President Buhari is that very soon it shall become a reality. Workers are forced to ask how soon is very soon ?’’

‘’It should also be stated that how much is N30,000 that governments across the federation are expressing reluctance to pay, money that is not worth a living wage is what they are delaying. We the Nigerian workers can no longer trust Mr. President in the issue of the new minimum wage. He is playing on our collective intelligence, he is not ready to make workers smile’’, Comrade Emelieze lamented.

The Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint an experienced professional to oversee the affairs of the Ministry of Water Resources as he did in his first term in office.

The AWDROP made this call through its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Richard Adeyinka.

‘’It is advisable the President looks inward, when he wants to appoint a Minister for Water Resources. He should appoint someone who has experience and is well versed in the field. Those in the Ministries of Justice and Health are core professionals, same should apply for water resources, so that Nigeria can have a smooth ride in achieving the SDG 2030 goals. The professional so appointed shall make the workload much lighter, when we talk about governance. The former Minister Engr. Admu performed to the best of his ability’’, Mr. Adeyinka concluded.

Nigerians have continued to express reservations over the unimpressive performance of a number of the Ministers, President Buhari appointed in his first term in his office.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has advised married couples not to allow negative happenings in the society today to disintegrate their homes.

The AWC gave this advice recently,  through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''The AWC  advises maaried couples and families, most especially the young ones not to allow mounting negative happenings in society to erode family bond, unity and togetherness  to the extent of destroying their marriages.''

''However, even if we have to do otherwise, partners should recognize that they both have the right tom seek redress through legitimate means, not through extrajudicial means, so that the marriage would not result in self destruction because it is better to go one's way than to go through the path of destruction, when marrigaes are not working'', Comrade Emelieze concluded.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has declared that the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration has lost the goodwill of past leaders and Nigerians as a whole.

The AWC made this declaration through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze, in a chat with Poverty Line.

''Former Nigerian Heads of  State and Presidents no longer believe in the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration. President Buhari has lost the goodwill of past leaders and Nigerians as a whole. Nigerians no longer trust him.''

Nigerians are only hoping and praying for God's intervention, while the socially conscious ones have concluded that the problem with the country is President Buhari and the ruling class'', Comrade Emelieze noted

The Oyo State Fire Service has  declared that only 8 lock up shops made of plank at the Orita-Aperin Market were razed by the inferno that engulfed the market over the weekend.

A cross section of mainstream media had reported that the faulty truck of the state fire service negatively affected the inferno at the market.

The State Fire Service made this declaration through its Deputy Director, Mr. Moshood Adewuyi.

''It is a mis-statement for saying that the fire  service truck malfunctioned, in the process of putting out the fire that engulfed the Orita Aperin market. The reverse is the case, my people performed excellently well, those in the market and its surrounding can testify to this. The shops were made of combustible materials, the shops were made of plank. Of 50 of these shops, the fire service was able to contain the situation and only 8 shops were affected.  What was the situation ? The fire started at the centre of th market and we were able to curtail its spread, only 8 lock up shops were affected. Our quick intervention saved the situation. In the process of putting out the fire, the pump of the truck broke down and because of this we opted for buckets to put out the fire. I use this medium to appeal to newsmen to always contact the fire service in such a situation before publishing their reports. People can go to the market and see for themselves what we did, the whole market was constructed with combustible materials'', Mr. Adewuyi concluded.

In another development the people of the state have  expressed worry the state over the declining level of governance as a result of the freezing of the accounts of Ministiries Departmens and Agencies, just as they called on the state government to take urgent steps to address the situation.

 Nigeria Hydrological Services and Nigeria Meteorological Agency(NIMET) has warned that 11 Local Governments in Rivers state shall experience severe flooding while seven others shall experience mild flooding.

This disclosure was made by The Zonal Director of the  National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA), Walson Brandon in an interaction with Journalists.

Brandon who also stated that the forecast showed that flooding this year was expected be more than that of last year, listed the areas to be affected to include : Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, (2) Oyigbo, (3) Tai. (4) Abua/Odual. (5) Degema, (6) Akuku-Toru, (7) Port Harcourt City, (8) Obio-Akpor (9) Gokana, (10) Ahoada-West (11) Ahaoda East (12) Andoni (13) Asari-Toru (14) Bonny. (15) Ogu-Bolo (16) Okrika, (17) Opobo-Nkoro, (18) Etche as the local government that will suffer flooding.

He advised the State Government to  put in place emergency management procedures to mitigate the impeding flooding saying,''emergencies are local for example when there’s a plane crash, it happens at a place, so we expect the local residents around that area to assist in basic First Aid and also respond adequately. Since disasters happen at a particular place, we expect the people to take action concerning their environment.''

“Federal Government is a big entity that covers the 36 states and capital, in issues of emergency the first respondent is Local government, by extension the state as second before Federal government, so there’s a need for the state government to have robust state emergency team to mitigate the coming flooding. Our procedures are, if there’s an emergency, we move to the area and assess the situation and then make recommendation to our headquarters for action, pending the response from the Headquarters we assist victims with basic first aid and emergency services. so the state is expected to act first,'' Brandon noted.

In 2015, Ahoada West was submerged and  over 60 families were affected by the flooding.