N76.12bn unaccessed UBEC fund stalls progress in basic education

TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE, who recently toured some public primary schools in Ondo State, which has the highest unaccessed funds lying dormant with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), reports on the consequences of the action on Nigeria’s children and the economy. He also proffers a way forward.

ST. David’s Primary School, Ijomu, Akure, is the first primary school in Akure, the Ondo State capital. It was where Oyemade Ojo had his primary education between 1972 and 1979 and among many others, who attended the school are the former Secretary to the then Military Government of Ibrahim Babangida, Chief Olu Falae and his wife, Rachael (nee Fashoranti).

“During my days”, Ojo, 52, recalls, “the school was very fine. It was a delight for many parents to enrol their children. We were not many in class. The ratio of students to a teacher was minimal. The environment was neat. There was no automatic promotion for pupils. There was also discipline among both the students and teachers. You dared not absent yourself either as a student or a teacher, else, you would be dealt with.”

Now, the situation is no longer the same. Things have turned other way not only for St. David’s Primary School, but also for most of Nigeria’s public schools, as pupils are now learning in dilapidated structures, under leaking roofs, in overcrowded classrooms and under overgrown trees and in unhealthy environment.

So, whenever Ojo passes through St. David’s Primary School, he feels sad. While almost all the 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory are complaining of no money to provide functional and effective basic education for children in their localities, N76.12 billion owned by some states is lying idle and unclaimed. Unfortunately, Ondo State is one of them, and actually has the highest unclaimed fund with the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), in the country, as of  October 31, 2017.

The irony is not lost on Ojo, for, had Ondo State accessed its own N4.86 billion (representing 6.4 per cent of the total unaccessed N76.12 billion from UBEC in the last four years), St. David’s Primary School, may not have been in the state it is today. Ojo also, would have always walked past the school as a happy and proud alumnus.

These days, Ojo is really sad about his alma mater. A major block of classrooms there has become an eyesore, though, the headmaster’s office, which boasted of a drawing scale to measure the height of new intakes, is still there. Today, however, that same block is not only dilapidated and abandoned, it has now become a dumpsite for refuse and defecation.

Our reporter visited the 170-year-old school on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. There was no fence and no gate, let alone security personnel to control people’s movement. Even passers-by now use the school as a shortcut to their destinations.

A nearby resident, who simply identified himself as Kareem, accused the school of messing up the abandoned building. He said it appeared that the students found it more convenient to dump refuse and defecate there because there is no running water to facilitate the use of the only pit toilet available in the school.

He revealed that the abandoned borehole, sunk within the premises by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, to serve the school and its environs was no longer in use. The resident  alleged that the submersible machine installed to pump water from the borehole had been stolen and no replacement was forthcoming.

Conversely, a teacher in the school who preferred anonymity for fear of being sanctioned, countered the neighbour’s claim, alleging that the residents in the neighbourhood were responsible for defiling the building after the school hours and during holidays.

The teacher however confirmed that the school was actually facing water scarcity and this had created a burden for them when they wanted to answer the call of nature.

The situation at St. Brendan’s Primary School, Cathedral area; LAIV and LA1 Primary schools, Stadium area, all in Akure metropolis, as well as the United Methodist Primary School, Arigidi-Agbaluku, Akoko North, is no better. Their buildings are far below 21st Century structures, some without windows and doors, some with damaged ceilings and bumpy floors and some without fences or security personnel. Worse still, safe water and modern toilet facilities are alien to these schools and others visited by this reporter, in Akure South, Akoko North and Egbedore local government areas of the state.

Similarly, it was observed that all the school buildings, either newly-built or refurbished, have been untouched for the past five years.

The most recent is in Chief Falae’s alma mater, which was renovated by UBEC/SUBEB in 2012.  That of St. Brendan’s/Sacred Heart Primary schools and the LA1 Primary School where a block of classrooms was renovated under the Millennium Development Goal Project were carried out in 2007, while other self-help projects were done by the community. And none at the United Methodist Primary School, Arigidi-Agbaluku, in the last 10 years.

In recent times, the Ondo State government has openly admitted this sorry situation, which is applicable to most of the schools at the basic level and worse in its rural communities. It did so through its Strategic Development & Policy Implementation Committee’s (SDPIC) Report, issued by the current administration which came to power in February, 2017. In the report, (which is an up- to-date comprehensive account of each of the sectoral divisions of the state’s economy), it confirms that there was actually a serious crisis in basic education in the state.

According to the report, the standard and quality of education in the state which used to be very high based on the excellent performance of students at primary and secondary schools has fallen drastically and this has reflected in many ways including the students’ performance in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).

The statistics obtained by this reporter from the West African Examinations Council (WEAC), which conducts the exams, confirms this, showing that (except in 2016 when there was an improvement), only 30 per cent of candidates from the state, who sat for the exams between 2010 and 2015, for example, obtained credit and above in five subjects including the mandatory English Language and Mathematics.

The governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, re-echoed this situation during the recent state education summit and the inauguration of the Universal Basic Education Board and urged board members to reverse what he described as the fast decline in quality of basic education in the state. He identified various causes including low government financing, government takeover of mission schools, poor environment, dilapidated structures, inadequate instructional materials, mass promotion of pupils, irregular payment of teachers’ salaries and the huge unaccessed UBEC fund.

Consequently, the new administration has approved the payment of N3.9 billion counterpart fund to enable it to access the N7.8 billion due to the state up to 2016. However, experts are doubting its timely release.

Ondo State is not alone in this condition, as 27 other states (excluding Lagos, River, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Delta, Jigawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Sokoto and FCT) have not accessed their funds up to date.

The figures from UBEC show four of them that are closely behind Ondo as at October ending, as Enugu (N4.43bn), Ebonyi and Oyo (3.82bn) and Edo (N3.35bn).

The UBEC fund is an annual Federal Government grant given to all the states and the federal capital territory, to assist them in the provision of quality and quantitative free and compulsory education for six years of primary and three years of junior secondary education. The recipient states are expected to use the grant, which comes to them in the first quarter of the next fiscal year, to provide decent class and staff rooms, laboratories, safe water, toilet facilities, furniture, libraries, books, instructional materials, staff training, girl child education, the almajiris school model where applicable and children with special needs, for every child, irrespective of background and location.

Accessing the fund is however conditional. According to the 2004 UBE Act, each state must match the grant by providing 50 per cent of the total grant, the blueprint for intended projects and proof of the judicious use of previous grants. For Ondo State to access N9. 72 billion therefore, counterpart funding stands at N4.86 billion, which is an accumulation of 2013/14(N1.98bn), 2015(N0.88bn), 2016(N1.04) and 2017(N0.95bn).

Then, why the state did not match the grant? The commissioner in charge of the education ministry for the entire four years of unaccessed funds, Mr Jide Adejuyigbe, explains reason to this reporter, saying “The sharp drop in the Federal Government allocation to Ondo State from something around N5 billion to N1 billion monthly due to the fall in oil revenue really affected the state from carrying out some statutory obligations.

“For example, our monthly wage bill, was around N4 billion while our internally generated revenues was very small and because of that, we found it difficult to meet other important commitments outside salaries.

“Even at that, workers were owed several months’ salaries and government could not downsize because of the implications, especially on families. When people are thrown out of their jobs, crime and criminalities would rise, and there would be anger on people faces and this can easily lead to lawlessness and so forth.

“But a responsible government won’t consider workers retrenchment as the best option when in economic crisis like many states have been in the recent years.”

The Deputy Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Sharon Oviemuno, is not convinced and told this reporter recently, that the 50 per cent counterpart funding’s rules must be applied. Her boss, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, had also in recent times, accused many governors of hijacking the funds from their SUBEBs and diverting same on unintended purposes, including payment of salaries.

He alleged that most of the states that owed their workers several months’ salaries were the worst offenders but declined to name them for reason(s) best known to him.

Surprisingly, the same Ondo State that could not raise N3.9 billion counterpart funding throughout four years of the second term of Olusegun Mimiko’s administration, was able to build 51 mega primary schools that gulped several billions of naira. Though, the governor said at the time that the idea was to close the gap between the children of the rich and those of the poor, as the schools are provided with a state-of-the-art facilities including internet.  Many see the project, as political, since these facilities are lacking in the remaining 1,218 state’s owned primary schools and the mega schools are not also, totally tuition free.

How then can Nigerian children benefit from the utilisation of UBEC funds? Education experts and stakeholders have diverse views. Some believe that the UBE Act 50/50 per cent counterpart funding formula, (which is currently before the senate for possible amendment) remains the best for the country.  The erudite scholar and Nigeria’s former representative to UNESCO, Emeritus Professor Michael Omolewa, and the former Minister of Education, Prof. Chinwe Obaji, among others, favour this argument.

They said it was very important for states to make significant contributions towards UBE programmes, especially since the children concerned are in their localities.

They believe that if governors, their cabinet members and lawmakers had the political will to prioritise human capital development, which starts with the basic education, they would certainly raise the counterpart funds, arguing that “There is no way Nigeria can compete favourably with the developed countries, technologically and economically, without education that is deep-rooted in effective teaching and learning from the primary school level.”

Prof. Obaji, who is a retired teacher and administrator, recalls in an exclusive interview with this reporter, that governors were the ones who said they wanted money from the Federal Government for educational development in their respective states and agreed to pay 50 per cent counterpart funds to access the money. “So, does it now mean they just want the federal government to be giving them grants to lavish?” she queries. “No way. We can’t do things that way and be expecting good results.  Payment of counterpart funding by states and proper accountability of its use would help the country to achieve the UBEC mandates,” she stressed.

Similarly, Omolewa believes that it would be extremely difficult for any state which cannot do anything substantial with the 50 per cent counterpart funding, to offer anything if the said percentage is reduced.

But some hold a contrary view about the sharing formula, believing that now is the right time for the amendment of the UBE Act as it relates to the matching grant policy. They base their argument on the prevailing economic reality, saying most states can no longer generate substantial internal revenue except probably Lagos and Rivers who collect taxes from several companies.

An education resource consultant, Chukwudi Obinna and the former Chairman of Parent-Teacher Association, King’s College, Lagos, Emmanuel Oriakhi, as well as Ondo ex-commissioner, Adejuyigbe, argue along this direction.   They said they would prefer that the 50/50 per cent counterpart funding is reduced to something like 10/90 or 20/80 per cent in favour of states to prevent any of them from giving excuses for not accessing their funds. According to Oriakhi, “Payment of any amount no matter how small, would enable states to value their grants from UBEC, because people naturally don’t value free things.”

Ojo and other stakeholders however agree that even with 50/50 counterpart funding and it judicious disbursement, governments at any level, cannot fund functional basic education all alone.  To match the standard offered by advanced countries like UK, Canada and the US, they believe the private sector, corporate and  faith-based organisations, civil society groups, philanthropists, Parent-Teacher fora,  alumni associations and the media, etc., should join hands with the government, to make the subsector work in the interest of the country.

They suggested that the private sector, corporate organisations, ex-students, parents’ fora, and religious bodies could help finance some of the projects in public schools like rebuilding and equipping dilapidated and abandoned structures like that at St. David’s Primary School, adding that civil society groups and the media should hold government and its multiple basic education regulators accountable for their responsibilities.

They said if all these are carried out faithfully, Nigeria’s basic education sector and the economy would be better for it.