Osinbajo survives as helicopter crash lands

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo escaped death on Saturday as his helicopter crash-landed in Kogi state, his spokesperson, Laolu Akande, said.

Mr Akande in a tweet said, “VP Osinbajo’s Chopper crash lands in Kabba, but he and the entire crew safe. He is continuing with his engagements and plans for the day in Kogi State.”

Details of the incident were not immediately clear.

It is the second time Mr Osinbajo’s helicopter would crash-land.

In June 2017, he survived a similar accident when the chopper he was traveling in crash-landed shortly after take off in Gwagawalada, Abuja.

He was in the area council to attend the graduation of 40 senior officers of the Nigeria Customs Service.

Mr Osinbajo has been traversing the country extensively as part of the implementation of the Social Intervention Programme of the Buhari administration

The components of the administration’s Social Investment Programmes include the N-Power programme, the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), which consists of the MarketMoni, FarmerMoni and TraderMoni schemes.

He was in Benin, Edo State, on Thursday Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Thursday in Benin, Edo State, for the official flag-off of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHSFP) in the State.

With the addition to Edo State, the number of participating states in the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme has now risen from 26 to 30 out of 36 states nationwide.

The 30 States now participating in Home Grown School Feeding Programme include: Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo; Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ogun.

The others are Benue, Niger, Plateau, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Jigawa, Adamawa, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Kogi and Edo states.

The six remaining states – Rivers, Lagos, Ekiti, Kwara, Bayelsa, Yobe and Rivers – and the FCT are set to commence implementation of the programme soon.

The school feeding programme, which is a part of the Buhari administration’s Social Investment Programmes (SIP), currently feeds 9.3 million schoolchildren one nutritious meal a day in over 50,000 public primary schools nationwide (aside from the number in Edo State).

Also, the NHGSFP has created thousands of jobs for cooks, farmers and indigenes in the communities where these schools are located. Currently, there are 101,000 cooks engaged in the programme, while more than 150,000 small holder farmers and youths are engaged in the overall value chain of NHGSF; from production to processing, aggregation, packaging and distribution across different states nationwide.

The Federal Government provides 100 per cent funding support, for feeding primary 1-3 pupils, while states provide operational funding support.

Speaking at the event in Benin, the Vice President noted that the administration’s Social Investment Programmes is the ‘largest social safety net programme in the history of Nigeria, noting that Nigerians benefit from the school feeding programme in different ways.