The government of Abia State has began a free lunch programme in primary schools, which is focused on giving pupils a free meal daily in all public primary schools.
The government claims the programmes would “meet the basic nutritional needs of children and expand the opportunity to reach their full potential and significantly enhance the academic performance of the children.”
This programme aims to feed about 136,258 pupils in total, who are estimated to consume about 408,774 fresh eggs; 51,09,670 grams of oaf rice and 68,120,00 grams of beans weekly.
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The first phase of the programme commenced at Ntigha primary school, located in Isiala Ngwa North council. Governor Ikpeazu also gave a statement, saying the initiative was born out of a genuine desire to invest in children, who are tomorrow’s leaders.
According to Ikpeazu, he understands what it means to go to school without eating, and the challenges some parents face in providing mils for their children. He said that under this scheme, every pupil in the state was certain of at least one meal daily.
The governor also complained over the fact that an outrageous amount of food ends up in the garbage can daily, by the rich and affluent, while some children are forced to hungry due to lack and he stressed the need to bridge this gap, pledging to sustain the programme.
