A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Bode George, has chided the Buhari administration over its feeding programme.
Last week, Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, announced that a total of 3,131,971 households are targeted for the Home Grown School Feeding Programme (HGSFP)
In a statement on Sunday, George condemned the handling of the policy.
“Pumping money into school feeding programme while the schools are not open is a little absurd. It is a redundant, unworkable palliative.
“In a nation where there is no standard numbering of houses, how do you get the food to the beneficiaries? This is more than laughable. It is tragic”, George lamented.
He called for the provision of stimulus packages and palliatives to help Nigerians manage the economic impact of coronavirus.
The politician, however, noted that using the pandemic to play politics or stoke sectarian animosity would not do the nation any good.
George said the nation must unite to effectively battle the pandemic.
“We must never reduce this obvious national challenge to partisan feud. This is beyond section triumphalism or sectarian animosity. Let us act by coming together, by discarding old divisions, and embracing a new nationalistic front.
“Let our leaders rise in the true spirit of national vision and mobilise our people towards rescue and redemption. This is indeed how nations are built and strengthened in the times of great challenges.”
Noting that there are no half measures, George said that the solution must be collective and predicated in cultivated consensus.
He further called for a coherent management of COVID-19 and advised the exploration of all resources in the orthodox and traditional medical fields.
“In all fields, there is a Nigerian with sterling talent that can rival anyone. Virologists, epidemiologists, microbiologists, morbidity experts, homeostatic scholars and others. Why are we not using them to mitigate, combat and destroy the COVID-19 malady?”, he queried.
George added that he did not believe lockdowns would make the virus go away.
According to him, only a coordinated strategic plan and framework of action could tame the pandemic.