COVID-19: OGUN FEEDS 60,000 HOUSEHOLD DURING LOCKDOWN,TRAINS PERSONNEL

  In its readiness to provide palliatives to the vulnerable children on the HomeGrown School Feeding Programme during theongoing nationwide lockdown, Ogun State Government has trained personnel and other critical stakeholders towards achieving efficient and smooth distribution.

       The training which was organised  through the HomeGrown office, was aimed at ensuring the children on the School Feeding Programme from vulnerable household continue to access nutritious food, despite the Covid-19 lockdown across the nation.

 

Declaring the training open, the Hon. Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Mr. Femi Ogunbanwo disclosed that the distribution of the Take Home Rations (THR) was aimed at targeting most vulnerable children, whose identification would not be linked to their parents but through the communities where the benefiting schools exist.

         "In consonance with the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari at identifying modalities on continuation of School Feeding Programme during Covid-19 pandemic, Ogun state government has left no stone unturned, as to ensuring unbiased identification of targeted beneficiary households through School Based Management Committee (SBMC), Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and even cooks, so as to achieve smooth planning, adoption and proper implementation of the distribution exercise", he said.

         Ogunbanwo charged participants to be fair, prudent and transparent in the discharge of their duties, as government would not allow undue influences from any quarters during the exercise.

         In her reaction, the State Operation Officer, Mrs. Mopelola Osolukoya, urged participants to focus more on communities in the slums and chanty villages in urban areas, adding that more vulnerable children were known to inhabit in such environment.

         Osolukoya said 290 distribution centres has been identified in 236 ward and 3213 polling units for collation and distribution of the Take Home Rations (THR) across the State.

         "The programme is aimed at taking care of One-third of the total enrolment of pupils on the HomeGrown School Feeding Programme in the State, therefore for easy distribution and accessibility, we have adopted the use of polling units as our distribution centres, to ease human traffic and ensure social distancing", she revealed.

          The 2-Day training had in attendance, State monitors, Education Secretaries, SBMC, Cooks and other Stakeholders.