States and free meals

•A great idea that should not be left to the states alone

Ironically, what is popularly acclaimed by citizens as a laudable social welfare programme to reduce mass hunger among school children, improve nutrition, enhance learning abilities of pupils, increase enrollment and retention in school, while fuelling agricultural activities and creating jobs may be at risk, on account of complaints from many states that they are not financially able to participate in one of the ruling party’s cardinal programmes.

However, if not properly managed, announcements by several states governed by the two major parties of their inability to provide free school meals for the fourth year while the Federal Government takes care of the first three years may threaten the efficiency and effectiveness of provision of free meals for pupils as from September, 2016.

That many states have indicated their inability to provide meals for one year out of the four years scheduled for the first phase of free school meals programme may sound surprising. But in the context of circumstances of the 36 states in the last one-and-a-half years, the fear of many states to embark on the scheme may make sense. All the states received bailouts to pay salary arrears early this year and many still owe back salaries after that. A few days after release of prerequisites for states to take N90 billion naira to meet their statutory obligations, most states are already struggling to meet the stringent conditions, an illustration of desperation of most states for extraordinary assistance from the Federal Government. The circumstances appear too desperate for states to even be concerned with efforts by the central government to act as a superordinate rather than coordinate government in a federation.

We know that some states may want to argue that since it is a project of the ruling party, they are not under any obligation to join in funding it. To some extent, they are right. But the overriding consideration should be the benefits that would accrue to the pupils and the country at large through the free meal project.

Given the fact that Osun State has managed to sustain its school meals scheme in spite of the precarious financial position of the state since the sudden fall in oil revenue, it should be possible for other states to borrow the Osun model for just one out of four years of a worthy social welfare programme for children. For example, with regular release of local government funds sent to joint state/local governments accounts, which most often are hardly released in full and on time to local governments in many states, feeding of fourth grade students should be doable if states and local governments are willing to split the bill for the fourth year of free meals for the most vulnerable group in the population.

In view of the raised expectations of students and their parents about free meals with effect from September, this is not the most opportune time for the Federal Government to take any chance with the take-off of the scheme. It should, therefore, fund this project for a start with the proviso that once the economy of the states rebounds, both states and local governments will share the cost of provision of free meals to students in the fourth year. This should be doable for a Federal Government that funds over 100 Unity Schools and runs National Youth Service Corps on account of national unity. Free school meals funded by the Federal Government until the economy of states improves also has the capacity to enhance national unity among students and their parents.

But implementation of the programme must not be left solely in the hands of states that are already overstretched financially nor in another huge bureaucracy that may increase the risk of compromising the success of the initiative. The Federal Government should therefore, dedicate an agency to manage the programme while involving states, local governments, parents/teachers associations in each state, as well as credible NGOs in constant monitoring of the implementation of the programme.