By Adekunle Adekoya
Sometime after the curtains were called on the lock-downs that attended the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development revealed that it had spent a whopping sum of N535.8 million to feed schoolchildren during the lock-down.
Remember that COVID-19 came in 2020, and for months, the entire nation, and indeed, most parts of the world were locked down to prevent spread of the disease with a view to averting mortalities as much as possible. Nigeria was not an exception; schools were ordered shut, as were bars, nightclubs, and hotels; while churches and mosques were made to adhere to strict distancing rules whenever people gathered to worship. I believe churches and mosques were not shut down totally as those in charge of our affairs thought that we needed to continue praying to God to lift the plague posed by COVID-19 so that our lives can return to normal.
Many families, and businesses too are yet to recover fully from the impacts of the lock-down. Children, from those in universities and other institutions of higher learning, down to those in secondary, primary and nursery schools were forced to stay at home. It was a period that stretched the incomes of most families beyond the elastic, bearable limit. In my hood at the time, boys mostly woke up, did their chores, and went out to play football.
After their matches, they came back to eat whatever they could find, rest, get money for data from their parents, and occupied themselves with their devices till sundown in the evening, when they went out again to play more football. The girls also found other means to occupy their time. The summary is that for the lock-down period, children were at home with their parents/guardians all the time. No physical schooling was done; some schools went the virtual route by delivering instructions online; but these were few and far between.
It was thus shocking when the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, then headed by Hajiya Sadiyya Umar Farouk announced that her ministry had spent N535.8 million to feed schoolchildren during the period. The questions people asked were fast and short: Which children? Where? In the house? In which schools? No answers were provided till Hajiya Farouk left office. Now six months after her tenure ended with that of Muhammadu Buhari who appointed her, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered her successor, Dr Betta Edu, to release details of how the sum of N535.8 million was expended on feeding of schoolchildren during COVID-19 lockdown.
Justice Nkeonye Maha, in a judgement, directed the minister and the ministry to furnish a civil society group with the information sought in line with Section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011.
Justice Maha said: “In view of all the matters before me and flowing from the objectives of the FOI Act 2011, the court hereby orders the 1st and 2nd defendants, in line with Section 25(1) of the FOI Act, to furnish the plaintiff with the information sought in Reliefs 3(a), (b), (c), (d),” she declared.
The judge also ordered the minister to comply with the orders of the court within 21 days upon receipt of the orders.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, had reported that the Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International had filed a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1162/2020 following alleged refusal of the then Minister, Hajia Sadiya Umar-Farouq, and her ministry to respond to the information sought.
The group alleged that independent investigation and information available to it “revealed that the so-called modified and implemented school feeding programme during lock-down against coronavirus pandemic was a scam, cover-up and well-articulated fiction to embezzle public funds.”
In the originating summons, the group sued the minister, the ministry and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively.
The Yoruba people have a proverb that says: “Iyan odun meta a maa jo ni lowo fai fai!” Freely translated: it is pounded yam that is three years old can scald one’s fingers. The real meaning, of course, is that matters one thought had been forgotten have ways of turning up again to embarrass the perpetrators. Hajiya Sadiyya Umar Farouk was one of the magicians that served as ministers under the Buhari administration.
I pity her successor, but since they are of the same political party, Dr. Betta Edu should not have issues having Hajiya Umar Farouk walk her through how she was able to perform a feat that even Harry Houdini or our own Professor Peller would find difficult. How did she feed children who were in their parents’ houses during a lock-down? Buhari had other magicians too; one tried to conjure an airline out of the air for us to fly. These people did a lot to make nonsense of Buhari’s good intentions, assuming he had any.
Credit:Vanguard
