BUHARIMETER: INCREASE CHILDREN COVERED BY THE SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM FROM 9.2 MILLION TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF 15 MILLION 

Due to the high number of out-of-school children and tackling malnutrition due to poverty among Nigerian children, the federal government in 2016 introduced the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) to address the situation and improve the abysmally high number of out-of-school children. Nigeria has the highest amount of out of school children anywhere in the world, with UNESCO estimating about 20 million of the 244 million children are from Nigeria alone.

The Federal Government-led school feeding program, with a daily allocation of ₦70 (0.17 USD), serves as a form of social protection. Its objectives are to enhance enrollment rates, improve the nutritional and health conditions of primary school children, increase income for farmers, and provide empowerment opportunities for women. This comprehensive initiative involves multiple sectors, including education, health, justice, agriculture, and budget and planning. It operates in collaboration with interested state governments, school Board Management Committees (SBMC), community leaders, women's groups, and parents.

President Buhari in his 2019 next-level campaign promised to increase the number of enrolled children from 9.2 million to 15 million which is meant to improve further the situation of malnourished and out-of-school children in the country.

On 31^st January 2023 the Federal Government announced that it had commenced the release of funds for its school feeding programme being managed by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, also stated that currently, the programme was feeding close to 10 million pupils in over 50,000 public primary schools. Also, the Minister of Labour and Employment says that the FG has spent over $ 100 million on the school feeding program.

From the data provided and currently available, the number of school children currently being covered by the school feeding program has not increased significantly to hit the target of 15 million beneficiaries. Therefore, this promise is rated “Compromised”.

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