It is disturbing that 34 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are yet to access the N263billion Universal Basic Education matching grant meant for 2024. The Executive Secretary, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Hamid Bobboyi, disclosed during an oversight function of the Senate Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) to the commission’s office that only a little percentage of funds meant for 2024 had been accessed. So far, only Katsina and Kaduna states had accessed the Q1 and Q2 of their 2024 matching grant. A state is required to access funds for four quarters each year.
For proper funding of basic education, we urge the affected state governments to begin to access the UBE grant. The major goal of the Universal Basic Education programme is to ensure that all children in Nigeria have access to quality basic education, regardless of their ethnicity, religion, class, or gender. To achieve its objectives, state governments must provide their 50 percent counterpart funding for the project and provide an Action Plan for UBEC’s approval in order to access the matching grant. The alarming figure of out-of-school children in Nigeria calls for concerted efforts by state governors to urgently cooperate with UBEC. The basic education level should not be starved of funding when there is UBE fund to access by the states.
Since 2021, some states have been defaulting in accessing their matching grant. Not less than 34 states and the FCT accessed the 2020 UBE matching grant, while Abia, Imo and Ogun are yet to access theirs, according to Bobboyi. The 2022 matching grant was accessed by 29 states and the FCT, with Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo, Ogun and Oyo yet to access theirs. UBEC further revealed that 25 states had accessed the first to fourth quarter matching grant, while nine states were yet to. About N103 billion was released for 2023 utilisation while N219 billion was released for 2024, representing 83.33 per cent release for 10 months.
An assessment of the six geopolitical zones shows that the North-West is leading with 100 per cent performance. The South-South zone is ranked 2nd with 97.92 per cent accessed grant, while the North-Central zone came 3rd with 97.76 per cent accessed grant. The North-East zone, in 4th position, has recorded 97.57 percent accessed grant; the South-West zone came 5th with 92.28 per cent, while the South-East zone came 6th with 85.37 per cent accessed grant.
It is baffling that the South-East and South-West zones with the best academic performance index in the country could not fully access the UBEC grant. The North-East and the North-West zones, which account for the majority of Nigeria’s out-of-school children, should be commended for their commendable in accessing the UBE funds. We hope that this will significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children in the zones.
Let all defaulting states provide the needed counterpart funding to access the UBE funds without delay. The fund will enable them fix the education sector in their jurisdictions. The governors must show interest in accessing the UBE funds for so many reasons. Apart from helping them to solve some of the problems of the education sector, it will boost school enrolment and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in their states. We believe that accessing the UBE funds will enable UBEC to also monitor the educational development in the states. The peer review provided by UBEC is good for the sector.
We call on state governors to prioritize the funding of the education sector, especially the basic education level, which provides the foundation for all educational pursuits. Democracy can only thrive in a country were citizens receive quality education at all levels of schooling. Without prioritizing education, the dream of Nigeria becoming one of the industrialized nations in the world will be a mirage. On the other hand, we urge UBEC to simplify the requirements for accessing UBE funds.
They should also find out why some state governors are not accessing the fund and find ways to lure them to access it forthwith. Some UBEC contractors had been accused of doing shoddy works. We want UBEC to address this challenge and ensure that their contractors deliver quality works. Having billions of naira yet to be accessed by state governments at a time basic education is in dire need of improvement is unacceptable.