Basic Education: State assemblies should hold Northern governors accountable — Bello Elrufai

Bello El-Rufai, a member of the Kaduna North Federal Constituency, National Assembly of Nigeria, has stated that the state assemblies should hold northern governors accountable for basic education.

He said this in a viral video ESET TV uploaded during a State Assembly meeting.

Bello said that in our role of earmarking funding, it’s evident that honest conversations with state governors are crucial. Despite the constitutional separation of powers, the reality of state assemblies varies greatly.

Only a handful of them, both in the current dispensation and those preceding it, engage in such discussions with integrity.

This lack of genuine dialogue often leads to misconceptions about our responsibilities, particularly regarding the educational crisis at the primary level, which is not squarely within our jurisdiction.

Constitutionally, every member strives to fulfill their duties, including addressing issues such as NECO and WAEC fees.

He further said that as for the speaker and their leadership, there’s a pressing need to take proactive measures, such as identifying and enrolling out-of-school children.

In regions like the North-West, it’s distressing to see children left idle, often coerced into trading by their parents.

However, it’s vital to recognize that education is a state’s responsibility; a child’s future is the product of the state’s investment, not just that of the family.

Therefore, concerted efforts must be made to combat this trend and ensure that every child receives the education they deserve.

He said, ” There should be an engagement between the leaders and some state governors, at geo political level, because as you have said that our job is to earmark funding, and we do that, but we all know the reality of state assemblies.

Only a few state assemblies in this current dispensation and the ones before will actually have these honest conversations with the state governors, despite the fact that there’s separation of powers.

Perhaps not as the house is supposed to be, but you, the speaker, and the leadership could engage the state governors because Nigerians out there look at us and blame us for the educational crisis at the primary level.