At a time when the nation’s education system is grappling with many challenges, it is disheartening that some state governments have refused to access the over N45.7 billion idle fund of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). The Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, recently disclosed that only 16 states have so far accessed the 2023 matching grant. The states included Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Kwara, Nasarawa Niger, Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara.
According to the UBEC boss, this represents 41 per cent of the N51.6 billion appropriated as a matching grant for basic education for 2023. As at June 30, the education intervention agency said only N21 billion had been accessed by the 16 states. Available information shows that UBEC was introduced in 1999 by the federal government to coordinate all aspects of the implementation of the UBE programme.
Over the years, UBEC has done much to improve the facilities in most primary and post-primary schools across the country. Its contributions to the development of primary education have not been in doubt. However, the inability of so many states to access the fund in recent times is a cause for concern. It is not encouraging that some state governments have not shown interest in accessing the N45.7 billion UBEC fund when most of the states’ primary and post-primary schools are in dilapidated condition.
We decry the refusal of some state governments to access the fund and urge them to reverse the trend. No doubt, the fund will help them fix some of their primary schools still begging for urgent infrastructural renewal. The affected state governors can easily provide the matching grants for accessing the UBEC fund. They have no excuse for not accessing the available fund.
We believe that drastic reduction of the rising cost of governance will enable some of them to access the fund that will help in the development of basic education. Basic education should be prioritised and even be made compulsory for every Nigerian child. Unfortunately, Nigeria has over 20 million out-of-school children. Investing N45.7billion in basic education in the affected states will go a long way in reducing the number of the nation’s children who are outside the school system. State governments should stop paying lip-service to basic education. No nation can develop when its basic education system is neglected.
We urge the affected states to stop joking with basic education and make contingent plans to access the UBEC fund forthwith. If there are obstacles or bureaucratic bottlenecks in accessing the funds, there is need to remove them. The politicisation of UBEC fund should no longer be tolerated. It is regrettable that basic education has been plagued by poor funding. Most of the states’ primary schools are in shambles due to dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate classrooms, projectors, computers, laboratories and libraries.
Other problems associated with basic education in Nigeria include lack of quality teachers and poor learning environment. Students in some parts of the country still learn under the trees while some school buildings have been destroyed by communal clashes, terrorism and other crises. The destroyed school buildings must be fixed.
Therefore, we condemn the refusal of some state governors to access UBEC fund. It smacks of insensitivity to the educational development of schoolchildren. Beyond that, UBEC should review and even simplify the modalities for accessing the fund. It is sad that only a few states out the 36 states can access the fund. Those in charge of UBEC should ensure that the fund is judiciously used to develop Nigeria’s basic education system.
In a related development, the House of Assembly Committee on Education has stated that the 20-year-old UBEC Act is obsolete and cannot address the emerging challenges in the basic education sector. The lawmakers should hasten the review of the law and make it effective. Having N45.7billion lying idle in banks, when Nigeria ranks second in the world among nations with greatest number of out-of-school children, is unconscionable and unacceptable. We advise that the stringent conditions for accessing the fund should be relaxed to enable more states to come on board.