Mrs Maryam UwaisFormer Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Investment Programme, Maryam Uwais has called on the participants to learn to ignore fake news which are often carried by social media.
He charged them: “you are Custodians of this project. You must ensure that when these fake stories come out, you put them in context. When they say something bad is happening here, there are enough positive outcomes to also say it is happening positively there.”
Mrs. Uwais, who addressed Capacity Building workshop on communication in Public and Media engagement for communication officers of the National Home -Grown School Feeding Team today, July 16 in Abuja, advised the participants to be proactive, circumspect and quick to dispel fake news to ensure that public opinion does not run against a well intended programme of Government.
The former Presidential Advisor who was in charge of the SIPs between 2016 and May 29, 2019, underscored constructive criticisms as crucial to effective planning for better service delivery of the Social safety net programs, lamented the situation where some media reports about the scheme either focus more on the negatives or promote falsehood that mislead members of the public.
She said that the National Home- Grown School Feeding Program is achieving intended results as school enrolment and child nutrition have improved significantly in States where the program is currently being implemented.
“The National Economic Summit Group, working with Accenture, conducted some impact evaluation studies on the School feeding program and has reported that the children are more diligent and more attentive in class because they now eat better.
“For many of the children in our government schools, they are happy that good food is available and their parents are encouraged to send their children to attend classes, especially in the remote areas.
“Recently, a friend of mine and former class mate in Law School confirmed that during the campaigns in the last election, the women in her community commended the current Administration’s programme feeding their children, asking her what the opposition was going to do for the children.She said that one of the women brought out two of her children and showed to her, saying you see how healthy they are, even as sicklers. The classroom teacher calls them out and gives them double ration each day, because nutritious food is available to their children even in their remote community schools.
Mrs. Uwais, who admitted that the program has encountered a number of challenges that border on sharp practices by some State officials and coordinators in a few States, said that the programme managers have since put in place measures to address the problem and ensure that all stakeholders work to achieve desired results.
She added that Collaboration with monitors and anti-corruption agencies has proved productive and would be ramped up, in the coming months even as she encouraged the media to continue to report nefarious practices, as feedback from the field would ensure an enhancement of the quality and quantity of food served to the children.
The Workshop was put together by the National Home-Grown School feeding Program in partnership with the International Society for Media and Public Health (ISMPH) to train Communication officers on effective media engagement for more awareness of the benefits of the programme, towards improving public perception and ownership of the Free School Feeding Program by Nigerians.
Several communication experts including renowned broadcaster Moji Makanjuola presented papers at the forum, also attended by some NSIO partners.
