Oluremi Tinubu, the first lady, has called for support for a sustainable rollout of the school feeding programme to improve nutrition among students in the country.
Oluremi spoke on Tuesday, at the roundtable launch organised by Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation, on the sideline of the 79th United Nations General Assembly(UNGA) in New York.
In a statement by Busola Kukoyi, senior special assistant on media to the first lady, Oluremi noted that the programme could increase enrollment in schools and reduce food insecurity in the country.
The first lady added that Nigeria needs all the support it can amass to ensure a sustainable rollout of the programme in climate impacted states.
“Nigeria is open to assistance in that area. It is something that I believe we really want to do, so that we can have school enrollment up and then get most of the children, especially children from the North that are going through desertification and recently, flooding as witnessed in Bornu State,” the statement reads.
“It is an hydra headed problem that we are facing. We are not really scared but, need all the assistance we can get. You can believe in our administration that we are here to work for our people, and get Nigeria back on its feet.”
The event, which had in attendance other members of OAFLAD, aims at positioning the school meals agenda in the G20 engagement of the African Union.
On January 12, President Bola Tinubu suspended all programmes, including school feeding, administered by the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), as part of a probe into alleged irregularities in the management of the agency and its activities.