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| IKPEAZU |
One of the greatest avenues to earn proper legitimacy in any democratic setting is the ability of those entrusted with the paraphernalia of political power to always maintain the democratic rules of engagement as regards their social contract with their people.
Over time, our political space had been consistently ruffled on the inability of the leaders to keep to their part of the bargain, by either delivering totally on their various electoral promises or continuing with them.
This unfortunate incident had sometimes pitched some politicians against their subjects who perhaps, are always indisposed and uninterested to the rehashing of infantile excuses for their abymal performances. This has grown to become the greatest undoing of Nigerian politicians lately.
Just about three days ago, the Abia state government under governor Okezie Ikpeazu, launched the much publicized school feeding program for primary schools in the state. This laudable initiative according to the governor is to improve the nutritional needs of the Abia school children and improve their learning capacity.
Since the free feeding program kicked off, it seems that the floodgates of commendation have been opened for the governor in appreciation of his effort to encourage Abia children to go to school.
As we are commending the governor for that gesture, it is also not out of place to ask how sustainable the policy could be in the wake of the current economic downturn ravaging our country. About 80 percent of the states of the federation have been declared "technically insolvent", owing to their inability to offset backlogs of salary arrears, pensions and gratuity of their workforce.
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, should know that Abia state is not classified as "educationally disadvantaged state". Infact, the state is one of the pace-setters in the area of Education in Nigeria. As such, one expected the governor to rather concentrate and beam his searchlight on improving the standard of teaching and learning in the state's education sector, as well as making welfare of the workers his topmost priority.
It won't do the state any good that after spending millions of naira on the program which we know politicians would end up in the pockets of political jobbers, workers would be left in ruins to gnash their teeth in suffering.
I had expected my governor to ask Osun state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the initiator of the school feeding program in this country, how far his state has fared so far in managing its debt profiles since experimenting the policy.
BY PAUL CHUKWU
SOURCE: FACEBOOK
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