…To spend N100bn on school-feeding programmes
The Federal Government has earmarked a total sum of N150 billion to implement poverty alleviation programmes as well as N100 billion for the school feeding programmes as allocated in the 2024 Budget.
The amount is to be spent under the four pillars of: Macro-economic stability; Industrialisation; Structural policies/institutional reforms and Redistributive policies/programmes of Government, under the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, (NPRGS).
Besides the N150billion allocation to the NPRGS, the Federal Government, in the N28.77trillion Budget signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, allocated the sum of N10.35billion to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.
Already, 15 million households are beneficiaries of the government’s N25, 000 monthly grants under the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.
The NPRGS was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2021 during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari to address poverty, particularly in rural areas. The programme is to run for 10 years (2021-2031), with an estimated implementation cost of $1.6 trillion at an annual average of about $161bn.
Recall that shortly before handing over to the Bola Tinubu-led government, the Buhari administration claimed that a total of 1.8 million ‘vulnerable Nigerians’ benefited from the programme.
Also, the Federal Government says it will expend the sum of N100 billion for the school feeding programmes as allocated in the 2024 Budget.
VoL had earlier reported in December, that President Tinubu ordered the reintroduction of the school feeding programme and mandated its transfer from the Humanitarian Ministry to the Education Ministry.
The Nigerian leader made the disclosure on Monday during the signing of the 2024 appropriation bill into law in the State House in Abuja. Tinubu stated that the allocation would serve as a stimulant to encourage attendance in schools and reduce the problem of out-of-school children.
The President also confirmed that the budget, christened “Renewed Hope”, is anchored on reducing recurrent expenditure, but increasing capital expenditure.
