- ‘Before We Leave Office, School Feeding Will Be Well Established’ – Oluremi Tinubu
- First Lady reiterates government’s commitment to early childhood development and children’s welfare.
- World Bank pledges continued partnership on nutrition, education and child development programmes
First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has said President Bola Tinubu remains committed to establishing a sustainable school feeding programme, expressing confidence that the initiative would be fully implemented before the end of the current administration.
She made the remark on Tuesday while receiving a five member delegation from the World Bank, led by its Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Matthew Verghis, at the State House in Abuja.
EDITOR’S PICKS
- FG Partners With Chinese Investors To Secure Land For 10,000-Home Mass Housing Project
- Intelligence Materials Were Shared With US, Not Seized – DHQ
- Man Arraigned in Adamawa Over Alleged Abuse Involving Daughter
EKO HOT BLOG reports that according to a statement issued by her Senior Special Assistant on Media, Busola Kukoyi, the meeting focused on strengthening collaboration between Nigeria and the World Bank on Early Childhood Development programmes.
Speaking during the engagement, the First Lady stressed the importance of investing in children from an early age, noting that such investments would improve their growth, learning outcomes and future opportunities.
“Investing in early childhood development remains critical, not just to improve growth opportunities for children, but also to shape and sharpen their focus,” she said.
She also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to policies and programmes aimed at improving the welfare of Nigerians.
“The population size of Nigeria alone is our advantage because Nigeria is a great nation,” she said.
Tinubu explained that the administration has adopted a multi sectoral approach to national development, highlighting interventions in health, education, nutrition and environmental sanitation.
“You talked on multi sectoral approach; that is what we have been doing. I will say that Mr President has gotten himself a wonderful team; they got it.
“When it comes to tuberculosis, we went out for sensitisation and promoted the campaign. And now, talking about our children, those are the joy of our nation; if we have to do a lot,” she said.
The First Lady also pledged to continue working with the wives of state governors to expand programmes that improve the wellbeing of children across the country.
“We are looking forward to school feeding. I can assure that before we finish our tenure, it would have been properly established because even Mr President is very passionate about this, even when he was the Governor in Lagos State,” she said.
Earlier, Verghis reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to supporting Nigeria’s Early Childhood Development agenda, describing investment in children as one of the country’s most important long term priorities.
“Every five or six years, we reframe our programmes in Nigeria. Nigeria is, unsurprisingly, one of the World Bank’s largest partners and our office here is one of the largest in the world.
“In the framework, investing in people is an important focus of the World Bank. We are partners in education and nutrition programmes. We have programmes on skills. We recognise the importance of investing in people,” he said.
He noted that investments made from pregnancy through the first five years of a child’s life improve cognitive development, reduce healthcare costs and help break the cycle of poverty.
Verghis also urged the First Lady to leverage her office to champion a coordinated, multi sectoral approach to Early Childhood Development.
“Nigeria is a very important partner for the World Bank and her success is crucial for the World Bank to achieve its target.
“We have targets for healthcare delivery, broadband access and energy access. For these various things, if Nigeria does not succeed, the World Bank is not succeeding,” he said.
The World Bank delegation disclosed that its new five year country partnership framework would prioritise programmes aimed at improving nutrition, education, sanitation and other critical areas affecting child development, adding that the First Lady’s leadership would play a key role in advancing the initiative.
