Taraba monarchs pledge support for school feeding programme

Traditional rulers in the Sah-Kaka and Mayo-Ngada border communities of Sardauna Local Government Council of Taraba State have pledged their commitment to ensuring the success of the ongoing school feeding programme in their domains.

During a weekend visit by the Deputy Country Director of ActionAid, Hajiya Suwaiba Dankabo, and the leadership of the Women and Children Health Empowerment Foundation (WACHEF), led by its Board of Trustee chairman, Dr. Danjuma Garba, the monarch of Sah-Kaka Chiefdom, Chief Emmanuel Adda, vowed to safeguard the initiative.

He emphasised that if properly managed, the programme would complement Governor Agbu Kefas’ policy of compulsory free education in the state.

“This school feeding programme must not fail,” Chief Adda declared, stressing the need for strong community involvement to sustain the initiative,” he said.

He noted that previous government programmes had failed due to a lack of local participation and pledged to personally oversee its implementation.

Similarly, the monarch of Mayo-Ngada, Alhaji Sambo Ubandoma, assured stakeholders of his dedication to ensuring the programme’s success in his community.

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The leaders highlighted that providing free meals to students would significantly boost school enrollment, as more children would be encouraged to attend classes.

Teachers in the benefiting communities confirmed a steady rise in school enrollment since the reintroduction of the feeding programme.

Parents who had previously kept their children out of school due to financial difficulties are now eager to send them, recognizing the importance of the daily meal initiative, a head of school teachers said.

The school feeding programme, implemented by ActionAid and WACHEF, as gathered by The Guardian, is supported by the ECOWAS Commission and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

Speaking on the initiative, ActionAid Deputy Country Director Hajiya Suwaiba Dankabo and WACHEF Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Danjuma Garba reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring that every child has access to nutritious meals to enhance learning and development