2023: Presidential aide urges Nigerians to keep faith with APC

Special Assistant, Political Affairs to President Muhammadu Buhari, Alhaji Gambo Manzo, has urged Nigerians to keep faith with All Progressive Congress (APC) ahead of 2023 general election.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Timothy Nwachukwu, his Technical Assistant on Media and Communication on Tuesday in Abuja.

Manzo said this is critical for the sustenance of the ongoing programmes of the Buhari-led Federal Government and several other initiatives aimed at lifting hundreds of millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

He chided the opposition parties for accusing the government of failure to improve the lives of Nigerians, saying that the allegation was not correct.

The presidential aide noted that most of the achievements of the Buhari-led administration were undeniable and visible for all to see across the federation.

He, therefore, berated the opposition for failure to acknowledge the positive impact being made by the administration to improve the livelihood of Nigerians.

This, he said, were through various government’s initiatives, including the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme among others.

Manzo said that the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme launched in 2015, had been adjourned by the United Nations World Food Programme as a remarkable achievement.

He said the programme had provided nutritious meals to over 9.8 million pupils in 56,000 public primary schools across the country, while engaging and empowering local small holder farmers.

He added that 107,000 cooks had also been engaged in the programme nationwide, making it the largest school feeding programmes in Africa.

Manzo further said that in Enugu State, the programme had improved enrolment and pupils’ learning ability, while teaching had been made easier.

This, he said, was especially as pupils now paid more attention to what was being taught.

He said that pupils in 799 out of the 1,200 public primary schools in the state were being fed since the programme commenced.

“In Rivers, Kaduna and Kano States, the scheme had increased pupils’ enrolment as many parents who cannot afford to send their wards to school because of feeding have been settled by the scheme,” he said.

Manzo added that 1,225,804 pupils were currently benefiting from the scheme among several many others across states of the federation.