Akwa Ibom children did not benefit from the school feeding program despite fulfilling the conditions as provided by the Federal Government, according to Governor Udom Emmanuel.
“During the lock-down occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, now under your ministry, requested information about the poorest of the poor in the 2,274 villages in the 31 Local Government Areas of our state for palliative assistance”, Emmanuel told the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq.
The occasion was the flag off and payment of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) in Akwa Ibom.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mr. Moses Ekpo, said, “This information was supplied, but, sadly, the palliatives never came. The school feeding programme has not made any impact in our state”.
He, however, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for programmes geared at alleviating poverty in the nation: The National Social Investment Programme, Trader-moni, Market-moni, Farmer-moni, CCT and N-Power.
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“Let me also appeal to agencies responsible for the field implementation of these programmes to operate with similar passion, patriotism and the national consciousness of Mr. President himself by ensuring that all sections of the country benefit”, Emmanuel added.
In Akwa Ibom, according to him, the alleviation of poverty for the poorest of the poor is at the heart of our social contract with the people.
“We have supporting legal infrastructure against any form of social exploitation. There are the Child Rights Law, the law against rape, the law against cultism, among others, aimed at protecting the vulnerable in our midst”, the governor said.
