Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
Kwara Government has received N7,151,142,190billion as grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the first time in seven years, after being blacklisted from the scheme in 2013.
Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Fatimah Ahmed , in a statement, yesterday, said: “This money would be spent in phases over the next two years to fix up to 600 elementary schools out of the over 1,400 decrepit basic education facilities across the state. The projects would be monitored by UBEC to ensure compliance with the work plan submitted by the government,”
The development represents a historic feat for Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who has spent the last one year working to reposition basic education in the state. He began with the payment of N450million diverted funds which had brought Kwara State under the hammer of the UBEC.
The N7.1 billion is acumulation of UBEC grants that were not accessed between 2014 and 2019. The money was not accessed because the former administration failed to pay its own counterpart funds.
UBEC grants are meant for rehabilitation of dilapidated schools, construction of new ones, equipment of schools with ICT tools, training of teachers, and project evaluation, among others.
The government is organising a three-day workshop for local contractors and those working with the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KW-SUBEB). The workshop begins on Tuesday November 9.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 342 business owners have registered for the Kwara State Government’s N500 million small and medium enterprise (SME) recovery funds set aside to support those who lost assets in the recent looting in Ilorin.
“The application for the SME recovery funds closed midnight Tuesday November 3rd with 342 business owners filing varying claims of loss,” according to a statement by the General Manager, Kwara State Social Investment Programme Mohammed Brimah.