The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said over $100 million was spent in feeding 10 million children under the National School Feeding Programme, as part of efforts to eliminate the scourge of child labour in the country.
Chris Ngige disclosed this on Friday as he received the United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard and officials of the Department of State.
According to Olajide Oshundun, Head of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment quoted Ngige as saying, “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.”