School Feeding:Bank Donates #20M To Ondo Govt

Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, has described the School Feeding programme as a deliberate effort aimed at ensuring that children enjoy balanced diet for adequate mental alertness. Governor Akeredolu made this known while playing host to the Management Team of First Bank PLC led by its Group Head, Public Sector (West), Dr Timothew Arowoogun who on behalf of the bank, presented a cheque of 20 million naira in support of the programme in Ondo State. Arakunrin Akeredolu who noted that the programme though conceived by the Federal Government to ensure that school pupils eat one well nourished meal everyday while in school, stated that the State Government believes that children in their formative years need a lot of protein to have the required mental acumen. “Students who are well-fed always have a lot of proteins and better intelligence quotient and would always perform better than those who don’t take foods rich in protein. “What school feeding meant is for us to be in position to give a level playing ground to everybody from primary 1-6. “Some of our children come from homes where such provision is hard to embrace, so government is supplementing to ensure they have balanced diets”, he said. The governor added that the State Government would ensure that children at Primary School levels eat balanced diet everyday so that their academic performances could improve considerably. He commended the noble gesture exhibited by the financial institution to partner the state, saying it would go a long way at making the programme a huge success in the Sunshine State. “As a state, we have our required counterpart funding for the project. We have what it required from us by the Federal Government and that we will do. “We thank you for this wonderful sponsorship and we look forward to more from you as the programme progresses”, he said. The governor who stated that every child would be entitled to one plate and the plates would cost above one hundred million naira, assured that the State Government would soon proceed to acquiring the plates in readiness for the take-off of the programme. Earlier the leader of the team, Dr Timothew Arowoogun had commended the governor for his efforts at revamping the education sector and restore its lost glory. Dr. Arowoogun who described education as a cardinal part of human development, particularly at the grassroots level, noted that the financial institution was desirous of complementing the Akeredolu Administration at achieving its goals in the sector. He applauded Governor Akeredolu’s performances since he assumed office, which he said have transformed the state to the admiration of the bank and which informed its belief in his programmes and absolute confidence in him. Consequently, the team leader said that the governor was not just a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, but that of the masses and as such the people of the state were lucky to have him as their governor at a time like this. “Despite the economic downturn, security challenges among others, we join you in your prism, that tomorrow will be better, not for this state alone, but for Nigeria as a whole”, he said.