Politics Gov El Rufai: Why I Stopped Free School Feeding in Kaduna State

[LequteMan]

The free school feeding in Kaduna schools has been halted, according to Governor Nasir El Rufai.

Speaking in an interview published by Daily Trust, he said the scheme was stopped due to a lack of funds.

"We were encouraged to start the programme because the office of the Vice President, under the Social Investment Programme, promised to subsidise 60 per cent of the cost of the programme. So, we started spending our money in the expectation of being reimbursed. We have spent, nearly N8 billion on this programme this year and the office of the Vice President is supposed to pay us back in the region of N6 billion to N7 billion.

"Since we made education free, the enrolment in class one was huge. We have not been paid this money. The amount we earmarked for the programme in the 2016 budget has been exhausted. So, we cannot continue with the programme.

"We are expecting the reimbursement from the office of the vice president. We have been assured over and over that we would be reimbursed. But we didn't think that we had the resources to continue without that reimbursement. We had exhausted what we budgeted for it. We will do well in education generally. I cannot prove it because it takes time before any investment in education matures. But I can give you some statistics to show that we are doing well.

 

[wazobiaplus]

Over to you oga vice president. Speech time is over... now time for action

 

[LequteMan]

Le VP will play this issue diplomatically. I expect him to release an ambiguous statement soon.

This is un slight jab at the VP

 

[wazobiaplus]

The money they were going to use was stolen by GEJ on his last visit to Aso Rock.

 

[PressRoom]

Mtchew... Welfare programs hurt, kill the economy. They can never be sustainable.

 

[wazobiaplus]

Mtchew... Welfare programs hurt, kill the economy. They can never be sustainable.

Welfare programs drive the economy of done sincerely the government pays less for security etc. Making a few people rich hurts the economy and that is not sustainable. It is just accepted!

 

[PressRoom]

Welfare programs drive the economy of done sincerely the government pays less for security etc. Making a few people rich hurts the economy and that is not sustainable. It is just accepted!

Nope. I disagree. The intention of Welfare is noble, but it drains the fiscal purse of the government, reducing funds for other areas like building of schools, construction of roads, etc. It creates a culture of dependency and entitlement. It removes the incentive for the active labor force to seek paid employment...

2. Making a few people rich is cronyism -- and that doesn't equate to Capitalism, and of course unacceptable in a free economy. The latter creates equal opportunities... Welfare programs are just short-term safety nets. It can never drive the economy.

 

[wazobiaplus]

Well... Nigerian does not have a welfare system so where are the roads, schools, power, security?

In contrast we are running to countries with a welfare system that have a social policy in place.