Business
Free Meal Policy: What Impact, How Sustainable?
The President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government appears ready to implement one of its campaign promises – the provision of free meals for primary school pupils in the country.
What impact will the project have on the education sector? How sustainable is it? These were some of the questions our Deputy Editor (Features), Calista Ezeaku put to some members of the public. Our photographer, Ken Nwuieh captured their images.
Lady Onyinye Mgbemena – Lecturer:
Since independence, governments have always formulated sound policies which to all intents and purposes are meant to advance the nation development wise, but midway through implementation, the policies are left to go moribund or entirely jettisoned. Sometimes after serving a pre-determined purpose as a result of several factors traceable most often than not to lack of continuity, being that many of our leaders consciously have not come to realize that government indeed is a continuum.
This brings to mind another set drawback which is lack of political will to faithfully implement policies as well as paucity of funds. Of course, there is the almighty corruption which has sucked in a good number of policies. Shedding more light on corruption, policies selfishly conceived on the face value may seem good, but upon a little scratch, the real intention of the formulation which is to feather personal and financial interest is revealed. It is against the backdrop of this that I am persuaded to enthuse that the free meal policy, much as it is good, I view with great cynicism over doubt of its sustainability, I want to be proven wrong.
The beauty of this policy cannot be over emphasised. The overwhelming poverty in the land is taking a heavy toll on over 70% of the country’s population, most of which live below the poverty line and therefore can hardly afford a decent meal a day makes the feeding policy very compelling and quite apt at this stage of our nation’s development. It will no doubt afford a child better frame of mind to study without much distraction, with a concomitant boost in education.
Thus, all hands must be on deck to ensure the sustainability of this project and this will be achieved when it is prioritized. On this nexus, I urge government to ensure product management of resources allocated to the project. The inclement economic climate which has seen the price of plummet abysmally in the international market, rendering our economy comatose, makes the prioritisation necessary. Be that as it may. There is the need to create more awareness on the part of parent to send their children and wards to school without necessarily luring them to school using meal as a bait.
In the final analysis government should show more than a passing interest to ensure that the project which has begun in earnest in some pilot states does not become a flash in the pan.
Mrs Osaghae – Teacher: It is a welcome development in the sense that we are presently going through a period of very high cost of foodstuff and other items alongside retrenchment/downsizing of the workforce in many organizations. The effect of this is that several average homes will have to cut down on the number of meals they can offer. This will in turn imply that a good number of children would likely be sent off to school without breakfast nor a lunch pack; maybe only with a few biscuits to sustain them through the school day. The rigours of academic work which often involves a lot of physical activity as well as mental energy puts a heavy demand on a child’s total energy, which is an end product of proper nutrition. Children and even a good number of adults cannot function optimally when hungry. Serving a meal to school children would therefore ensure that they would be able to concentrate properly and learning would continue to take place irrespective of the prevailing economic circumstance in our nation.
However, the sustainability of this scheme is not certain since it is not addressing the key issue s of unemployment and poverty. Sustainability would therefore be determined by the government of the day. When another regime is in office, they could think and act otherwise.
Alhaji Usman Ibrahim, – Chairman, Arewa Counsultative Forum, Rivers State:
It is a very good policy but I think there are other more important issues in the country that should have been tackled before we start talking of feeding of the pupils. First of all, the primary schools are supposed to be equipped with modern infrastructure and teaching materials. This will boost the primary school education in Nigeria. We are also faced with the issue of insecurity especially here in Rivers State and we expect the Federal Government to intervene in solving the problem.
However, I still believe the free meal a day to pupils is a good development as it will help the children to be more focused in school. It will encourage them to go to school. It will also make the children to stay in school till the school dismisses. There are instances where pupils go on break and do not return to school. This will be minimized. The free meal policy will also encourage parents to send their children to school. With the current economic situation of the country, many parents can hardly afford one meal a day. So if they are sure that their children will be given one meal a day in school, they will be eager to send them to school.
I pray the programme will be sustained beyond Buhari’s government because in Nigeria we have the problem of continuity of government projects and programmes in Nigeria. And for the free meal a day to pupils programme to be sustained, there must be a proper funding of it. At the same time, the state Universal Basic Education should be involved in the programme. They should be involved in supervising the feeding to ensure that the right things are done. I will also suggest that the national assembly should make a law, compelling all further administration, to implement the policy. I will also advice that effort should be made to empower the parents financially, so that they will leave up to their responsibilities of feeding and catering for the children adequately.
Mrs Pat Opuebi – Civil Servant:-
With the way things are going now, I don’t think the project is sustainable. You see all promises they’ve been making to us, we are not seeing their fulfillment. So the possibility of the realisation of the free meal a day to pupils is very slim. I also feel they are going to politicize the project. So it might not go according to how it was planned. The project is a good one but my fear is that it will not be sustained. It will help the children educationally because sometimes the children leave the house on an empty stomach. Sometimes some of them steal their parents’ money to buy something and eat in school. But having that assurance that they will be fed in school, it will go a long way to help them.
So, I will advise the federal government to put measures in place to ensure that the project is sustained even beyond Buhari’s government.
Mr Kingsley Nnebara – Civil Servant :-
It is a good development if government can abide by the rules of that policy, not tomorrow they cannot continue with it. If they can sustain it, it is good. It will help the children. It will make them to be strong. If they did not eat at home and in school you give them one meal, it is good for them.
Chief Achor Owhonda – Businessman:-
The policy is a good one but I don’t see the feasibility considering the current economic situation of the country. Everything is going down. So I don’t see the Federal government being able to bear such burden in all the public schools in the country. The Federal government has been crying that there is no money and every sector is down sizing. So for the Federal government to say billions of naira has been set aside for this project, it means they have been lying to us. It means there is money. But if there is money, we should even invest it in some other sectors that will yield income, not to feed school children. Feeding of school children shouldn’t be our priority. It should be the responsibility of parents to feed their children. There are some specific food children eat at home and the free meal provided in school might not cater for that. So it will be a waste for Federal government to fund such project.
To me, I will say that rather than helping the children to learn, it will even cause distraction because there is time for the food to be served and time for the children to eat the food. So these periods are shorting the time they will use to learn. So it will distract children from learning. Considering the number of children we have in public schools, it is not possible that the whole children will be fed during break. I’m also certain that the Federal government cannot sustain it. They might be able to manage it for moment but after sometimes it will collapse. Another point is that some people will milk from it. Some people will use it as a means of making money. So I am discouraging it. They should look for other areas to invest our money, not in feeding school children.
As a parent I will not be comfortable for my child to eat the free meal. I was listening to radio sometime ago and a story was told of how a cook in a secondary school in Lagos would blow her nose inside the food she was cooking for the students. The students saw it and protested. That made some of the students to jettison boarding. That discouraged some of us. For instance, I boarded when I was a student but my children will never board because of such attitude.
You don’t know how the food they give them in school was prepared. They are not prepared in very hygienic environment, sometimes. So if care is not taken, the free meal a day project might lead to food poisoning because of how and where they are prepared.
So, since the federal government has already budgeted for the project, they should go ahead and try it. If not I would have advised that they should drop the idea.
Business
Electricity: Bands BCDE Suffer No Power
As DisCos struggle to meet the required 20 hours power supply to “Band A” customers following shortage of gas which has hindered power generation since January, customers on Bands B, C, D, and E are left with no light, according to The Tide’s source.
The source learnt that the distribution companies were concentrating more on the Band A customers to keep their Band A feeders from being downgraded.
Band A customers enjoy a minimum of 20 hours of electricity daily.
On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission announced that subsidies would no longer be paid for the electricity consumed by Band A customers.
The electricity tariff for Band A customers was revised upward from N68 per kilowatt-hour to N255/KWh.
1 kWh is the amount of energy that could be used if a 1,000-watt appliance is kept running for an hour. For example, a 100-watt light bulb operating for 10 hours would use 1 kWh.
After the power subsidy was removed, the NERC directed the 11 DisCos to release their lists of Band A customers, who must get at least a 20-hour supply daily.
The regulator and the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, emphasised that there would be sanctions should the distribution companies fail to supply Band A customers with 20 hours of electricity.
The DisCos were also mandated to inform customers whenever they failed to meet the required minimum service level.
NERC said where a DisCo failed to deliver on the committed level of service on a Band A feeder for two consecutive days, the DisCo should, by 10 am the next day, publish on its website an explanation of the reasons for the failure and update the affected customers on the timeline for restoration of service to the committed level.
It stated that if a customer’s service level improves to at least 20 hours, they should be upgraded from lower service bands to Band A, adding that if the DisCo fails to meet the committed service level to a Band A feeder for seven consecutive days, the feeder will be downgraded to the recorded level of supply by the applicable framework.
In their efforts to meet up with the service level, the source gathered that some of the DisCos were gradually resorting to diverting the little allocation they get to the Band A customers.
This is in spite of the fact that the gas constraints that have hindered power generation since the beginning of the year have yet to be addressed.
Many communities said they could not boast 30 hours of power supply since January, a development the government blamed on the refusal of gas companies to supply gas to power-generating companies due to heavy debt.
Recall that recently, the IBEDC spokesperson, Busolami Tunwase, explained that, “One of the primary factors is the low supply of gas to generating companies, which has led to a gradual decrease in available generation on the grid.
Business
‘Inappropriate Insider Dealing’ Earns Julius Berger NGX Sanction
Authorities at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) have sanctioned Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN) Plc for engaging in inappropriate insider dealing in shares.
According to a document obtained by The Tide’s source, JBN, Nigeria’s leading construction company, was sanctioned for “insider dealing during closed period”.
Incorporated in 1970, Julius Berger, Nigeria, which was incorporated in 1970, became a publicly quoted company in 1991 and has more than 10,000 shareholders.
NGX Regulatory Company (NGX RegCo), the self regulatory organisation (SRO) that regulates activities at the NGX, stated that JBN breached certain provisions of the listing rules and was thus sanctioned accordingly.
According to NGX RegCo, JBN violated provisions on “closed period”, in breach of the construction company’s commitment to adhere to listing rules and standards.
The NGX had tightened its rules and regulations to checkmate boardroom intrigues and block information arbitrage that tend to confer advantages on companies’ directors.
The amendments expanded the scope and authority of corporate financial reporting while eliminating gaps that allowed companies to sidetrack relevant rules in stage-managing corporate compliance.
The enhanced framework provided clarity and greater disclosures on directors’ trading in shares, corporate liability for accuracy and compliance of financial statement, dissuade bogus dividend payment and other sundry boardroom’s maneuverings that tend to favour insiders.
The amendments came on the heels of noticeable increase in violations of rules on ‘closed period’, a period when directors are banned from trading in the shares of their companies.
Rule 17.17 of the NGX disallows insiders and their connected persons from trading in the shares or bonds of their companies during the ‘closed period’ or any period during which trading is restricted.
This period is mostly at a period of sensitive material information, like prior knowledge of financials, dividends or major corporate changes, which places directors and other insiders at advantage above other general and retail investors.
A review of the disclosure violations at the stock market had shown that all violations in 2021 were related to violation of Rule 17.17 on ‘closed period’.
Under the amendments, in addition to the provisions of relevant accounting standards, laws, rules and requirements regarding preparation of financial statements, companies are now required to include several specific declarations on securities transactions by directors, changes in shareholding structure, self-assessment on compliance with corporate governance standards and internal code for directors on securities transactions among others.
Business
Nigerian Breweries To Suspend Operations In Two Plants
Nigerian Breweries Plc says it is planning for a company-wide reorganisation which include the temporary suspension of operations in two of its nine breweries.
It said this is part of a company-wide reorganisation as part of a strategic recovery plan aimed at securing a resilient and sustainable future for its stakeholders.
The Business Recovery Plan includes a rights issue and a company-wide reorganisation exercise which includes temporary suspension of two of its nine breweries and an optimisation of production capacity in the other seven breweries, some of which have received significant capital investment in recent years.
These measures include relocating and redistributing employees to the remaining seven breweries and offering support and severance packages to those that become unavoidably affected.
The company said this move is essential to improve its operational efficiency, financial stability and enhance a return of the business to profitability, in the face of the persistently challenging business environment.
In letters signed by the company’s Human Resource Director, Grace Omo-Lamai, and addressed to the leadership of the National Union of Food, Beverage & Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) and the Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), the company informed both unions that its proposed plan would include operational efficiency measures and a company-wide reorganisation that includes the temporary suspension of operations in two of its nine breweries.
As a result, and in accordance with labour requirements, the company invited the unions to discussions on the implications of the proposed measures.
Recall that the company recently notified the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) of its plan to raise capital of up to N600 billion by way of a rights issue, as a means of restoring the company’s balance sheet to a healthy position following the net finance expenses of N189 billion recorded in 2023 driven mainly by a foreign exchange loss of N153 billion resulting from the devaluation of the naira.
Speaking on these developments, the Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries, Hans Essaadi, described the business recovery plan as strategic and vital for business continuity.
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