Salisu Kabuga
The Jigawa State Government has dismissed and suspended several school feeding contractors over alleged fraud, supply of substandard food items and inflation of student figures in some boarding schools across the state.
The action followed complaints from parents and members of the public, as well as unannounced inspections carried out by officials of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Special Duties in schools within Dutse Local Government Area.
Speaking with journalists on Thursday, the state Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Special Duties, Auwalu Sankara, said the measures were part of efforts to sanitise the state’s school feeding programme and protect pupils’ welfare.
“The inspections were meant to check the reality on the ground and ensure that our children are not being shortchanged,” he said.
Sankara revealed that at the Girls Model Boarding School, Kudai, Dutse metropolitan, “the monitoring team discovered a discrepancy of over 30% between reported student numbers and physical headcount, with only 681 students found instead of the reported 1,008.”
According to him, the soup served to students in the school was also found to be unfit for consumption, leading to the suspension of contractor Jibrin Maifata.
He added that at Government Commercial Secondary School, Dutse, the team rejected a supply of low-grade rice and subsequently terminated the contract of Alhaji Sule Zai, who also serves as chairman of the contractors.
In another development, the commissioner disclosed that “three contractors – Kamalu Sulaiman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abanderi, and Alhaji Umaru Chamo – were suspended for delivering incomplete supplies to the School for Arabic and Islamic Studies, Dutse.”
However, Sankara noted that at the School for the Visually Impaired, Limawa, the student headcount matched records, and the contractor, Adamu Khalid, was retained for satisfactory performance.
“While we are cracking down on errant contractors, we also acknowledge and appreciate those who are doing their job honestly,” Sankara said.
He warned that the state government would not tolerate any compromise in student welfare, stressing that anyone found diverting resources would face the law.
Attempts by our correspondent to obtain comments from affected contractors and school heads were unsuccessful, as they declined to speak on the development.
Meanwhile, some stakeholders praised the government’s action, with members of the Jigawa-Next Forum urging that suspended contractors refund funds for services not rendered and that credible replacements be appointed promptly to avoid disruption of the feeding programme.
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