One Chicken Per Child: The ₦8 Billion Question Oyo State Must Answer (Day 45)

DAY FORTY-FIVE
Have They Eaten Today?
The Nigeria Union of Teachers members in Oyo State have been asked to return to the classrooms.
In return, they have reportedly been promised more than ₦8 billion as an incentive to reopen the schools.
That is approximately US$6.1 million.
At first glance, it sounds like an enormous amount of money. But consider it in another way.
An estimated 670,000 schoolchildren are enrolled in public schools across Oyo State.
If that sum were divided equally among them, it would amount to less than US$10 per child—about ₦14,000 at current exchange rates.
What can ₦14,000 buy in Nigeria today?
It is not even enough to purchase a single chicken, which now sells for roughly ₦25,000–₦30,000.
Can the equivalent of one chicken per student transform the future of public education in Oyo State?
The money is chickenfeed.
When the powerful gather for banquets and official functions, a chicken on each plate is often taken for granted—before the wine is even served.
I find myself asking difficult questions.
Should we begin requiring elected officials and political office holders in Oyo State to enroll their own children in our public schools if they wish to govern us?
And then there is the question that weighs even more heavily on the conscience.
It is Day Forty-Five.
Our abducted children remain in captivity.
Have they eaten today?
Are they being fed in the forest?
What are they eating?