According to the Federal Government, the National School Feeding Program cost approximately $100 million to feed 10 million Nigerian children.
This was a part of the country’s efforts to end the scourge of child labor.
When receiving Mary Leornard, the US ambassador to Nigeria, and representatives of the Department of State on a courtesy visit on Friday in Abuja, Sen. Chris Ngige, minister of labor and employment, said this.
Olajide Oshundun, the ministry’s head of press and public relations, said this in a statement.
According to Ngige, the school feeding program was implemented by the Nigerian government as part of its social security program to entice children who were involved in child labor to return to school.
He said the Federal Government also introduced social protection programmes to fight poverty, which is the major contributory factor to the prevalence of child labour in Nigeria.
According to him, ”we have introduced the National school feeding programme under our social security, to lure children back to school.
“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 a disability, it is outright poverty,’’ he said.
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