Osun state APC and the state government on Tuesday disagreed over the cause of the food poisoning incident reportedly recorded at St James Primary School B, Osogbo, the state capital.
18 pupils at the primary school in question were reportedly taken to hospitals for medical attention on Monday as they had suddenly fallen sick and this had reportedly happened after they had taken the mid-day meal made available to them by the food vendors engaged to do this by the state government under the Osun Home Grown School Feeding Programme, called O’Meals ,a scheme that allows pupils to have access to school meals .
The incident had created panic among residents of Osogbo especially parents of the affected pupils as videos of them receiving medical attention in the hospital were posted on social media.
Reacting to the incident , the state APC has warned the current administration in the state under Governor Ademola Adeleke’s leadership to stop toying with the lives of the innocent school pupils alleging that the food vendors engaged by the government are serving the pupils ‘substandard food’.
The state APC chairman , Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement made available to Team@orientactualmags.com by the party’s Director of Media and Information, Chief Kola Olabisi on Tuesday claimed that the reported food poisoning case was a cumulative effect of the lackadaisical approach of the governor with regard to running of the affairs of the state.
The statement added that the food poisoning case in question was an embarrassment to the citizenry of the state and a gauge for the unpreparedness and inability of Governor Adeleke to provide qualitative governance.
The party advised the Governor Adeleke administration to stop the free school feeding programme which was started about two weeks ago.
‘The humanity in me became uncomfortable when one of the mothers of the victims gave an account of the state of his child that immediately his son came back from school, he started smelling an offensive odour of rotten eggs.
Is it true that only miserable N64 was budgeted for each pupil per meal? Is it true the government of Adeleke pays N10,000 per month to each O’Meal vendor?
If these allegations are true, then Governor Adeleke must have a clear conversation with his Creator. How would the food vendors be dedicated when they are paid peanuts and are not supplied with the right food supplies, at a time he himself budgeted billions for his own food and refreshments?’ the APC chairman asked.
While noting that the affected children are the future leaders of this country, the party has also asked the stakeholders to caution the governor.
‘All the stakeholders should rise up to condemn the laissez faire approach to governance by Governor Adeleke which was partly manifested through the suspected poisoning of the 18 school pupils with his ill-thought-out and substandard free school feeding programme’ Lawal submitted.
The state government has however asserted that what happened to the pupils in question had nothing to do with the meals served them by the food vendors.
The government further noted that the videos and fake news were the handiwork of political opponents who are out to show the state government in a bad light.
The state government added that the security agencies have been asked to investigate the matter with a view to bringing those behind the fake dramas and videos to book.
‘The clinical tests conducted at the teaching hospital confirmed no traces of food poisoning and the affected vendors have been discharged accordingly.
The reported food poisoning should not be associated with the mid-day meal given to the pupils by the O’Meals food vendors.
The whole allegation was discovered to be politically- initiated by some miscreants who intended to score cheap political goal.
It will interest the public to know that the pupils who were said to have been poisoned have since returned to school to continue with their examinations. They were fed in the morning, and they showed no sign of illness throughout the day’ Hon. Ayodele Oluwaseyi, who is the governor’s Special Adviser on O-Meal, submitted in a statement made available toTeam@orientactualmags.com-Team@orientactualmags.com
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