Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
….charges them on hygienic living, improved performance.
Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola on Monday inaugurated 2,210 newly-recruited food vendors to boost the home-grown school feeding programme initiative.
The governor also distributed cooking utensils, uniforms, feeding bowls among other materials to the new school food vendors to ease their services.
The caterers were recruited under the Osun Elementary School Feeding and Health Programme (O’MEALS) as part of the government efforts to promote quality, functional and qualitative education and as well help to make education more attractive and appealing to the pupils in the state.
The recruitment of the new food vendors across the 30 Local Government Areas and One Area Office was an initiative conceived by the government to augment parents’ care-giving efforts and essentially to produce children who are “physically and mentally balanced.” Speaking during the flag-off ceremony in Osogbo, the state capital on Monday, Oyetola said his administration was giving a boost to the O’MEALS initiative by empowering the newly-recruited food vendors to deliver service in a professional, efficient and effective manner.
The governor appreciated the O’MEALS management for putting in place a transparent procedure to select the new food vendors, noting that the government is empowering the vendors by procuring cooking utensils and other materials through a soft loan from the bank.
Oyetola disclosed that the bank loan will be repaid by the state government in order not to put any burden on the vendors, noting that the welfare of all food vendors in the state is paramount to his administration. “Today, the State Government will distribute pots, plates and spoons to all the food vendors in the state to enhance their effective performance,” he said.
He, however, urged the vendors to reciprocate the government’s gesture by providing good services through the serving of required quality and quantity of food to the pupils.
