Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has declared that providing access to quality education for the more than one million out-of-school-children in the state is a priority for his administration just as it is to get monetary support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to the tune of N600m for the provision of learning materials for its Primary School pupils in order to boost learning and teaching at the foundation level of education.
Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed made the declaration when he paid a courtesy call on the USAID Nigeria Mission Director, Stephen M. Haykin and the Chargé d’Affaires, Kathleen FitzGibbon in Abuja as disclosed to Journalists by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Multilateral and Non Governmental Organisations, Professor Sani Abubakar Malami while fielding questions from Journalists on the visit.
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The Special Adviser further disclosed that Senator Bala Mohammed also expressed the commitment of his administration to meeting obligations in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the U.S. Government to improve Basic Education in the state.
The Governor according to Sani Malami also commended the US Government for its continuous investment in improving reading skills for more than 400,000 children in Bauchi state through the USAID supported Northern Education Initiative Plus (NEI+) activity.
Sani Malami explained that the visit by the Governor was in line with the dogged desire of the administration to consolidate on the long term partnership in the areas of education, health, water and to strengthen good governance between USAID and the Bauchi State Government.
The visit was also aimed at expanding the scope of the partnership as well as to ensure front payment of counterpart funding by the State Government in order to attract more funds into the basket.
He further explained that USAID promotes a healthier, more educated population, increased inclusive economic development and provides humanitarian assistance and stabilisation support to the conflict-affected North-East region.
In his response, USAID Nigeria Mission Director, Stephen M. Haykin was quoted saying that, “The US Government is committed to providing better life opportunities for Nigerian children by strengthening state government institutions to improve education.”
Professor Sani Malami explained that USAID has also pledged to implement the Teachers Management Information System in the state to complement the efforts of the present administration in addressing the challenges facing the education sector in the state.
He further explained that the discussions between Governor Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir and the USAID focus on the areas of education, healthcare delivery services, water and public sectors reforms.
The Special Adviser added that already, USAID has reassured to expand the scope of its partnership with the State Government in the four areas, and pledged the readiness of the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed towards the timely release of counterpart funding.
He said that the Governor’s visit is to consolidate on the long term partnership between USAID and the Bauchi State Government and described community participation as key to the success of any partnership.
Professor Sani Malami said part of the strategies of the present administration in the state is to ensure community involvement in the areas of monitoring and supervision of projects executed by donor agencies.
He said that the Teacher Management Information system and the additional support of the sum of N600 million for the provision of books for Primary School pupils are some of the immediate benefits of the visit.
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