The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said the Nigerian Government had spent about $100 million in feeding 10 million Nigerian children under the National School Feeding Programme.
Ngige said the school feeding programme was introduced under the social security programme to lure children engaged in child labour back to school.
The minister stated this on Friday in his office when he received the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard and officials of the Department of State who paid him a courtesy visit.
He added that the Government introduced social protection to fight poverty, which is the major contributor to the prevalence of child labour in Nigeria.
Olajide Oshundun, Head of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, disclosed this in a statement
Ngige said, “We have introduced the National school feeding programme under our social security, to lure children back to school. As of today, we are feeding 10 million children across the country. We have spent nearly $10 million on this.
“We have also taken more schools into the areas prone to child labour and made education free in the whole country through the Universal Basic Education Act and the Child Rights Act.
“For the people with disability, we introduced Disability Peoples Commission to give them full and comprehensive aid so that they will not feel that they have any disability. If you don’t support someone with a disability, it is outright poverty.”
