In the concluding part of this feature, which began last Sunday, Justina Asishana writes on how the Education Board in Niger State seems to have gone to sleep, leaving pupils and teachers frustrated as they grapple with grim learning and teaching conditions.
Education board in slumber
The Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB) seemed to have been comatose until recently. Despite the huge allocations from the federal and state governments, the state of basic education in the state has remained worrisome. The board has retrogressed from failing to complete projects to complete abandonment of projects.
Efforts to get the funds accessed by SUBEB from 2013 till date proved abortive, and so were efforts to speak with the chairman of the Board. However, documents obtained from the Planning, Research and Statistics Department reveals that 271 projects were undertaken in 2013 at the cost of N1, 495,400,000. But not all the projects were completed. In 2014, 175 projects at the cost of N1, 316,200,000 were undertaken under the UBE intervention for construction and renovation of schools and toilets.
Also, 13,129 double-seater classroom furniture were documented to have been supplied at the sum of N239, 200,000 under the 2013 UBE Intervention while 10,710 double-seater classroom furniture was supplied at the sum of N321, 000 under the 2014 UBE intervention.
Some of the contractors, investigations revealed, tried to cut corners in the supply of some of these furniture. Most of them reportedly supplied directly to the schools and simply delivered whatever they liked and hoodwinked some of the head teachers into signing their delivery notes. But some head teachers, like Haruna Hassan of Angwan Anyan Model Nursery and Primary School in Suleja, insisted on signing only after full delivery.
According to Hassan, one of the contractors who were supposed to supply 60 seats ended up supplying 39 seats. “I was not around the school premises but when I was told that the contractor had brought the chairs, I rushed there but when I counted them, it was 39 instead of 60. He was agitating that I should sign the documents to confirm he brought the complete set and I told him that until he brings the others, I will not sign the document. And since then, he has not brought the remaining. “
Some schools had to share the inadequate furniture given to them by SUBEB equally among the classes to ensure that they try to meet the furniture deficit but it has failed to address the problem. More than half of the population of pupils in primary schools across Niger State still sits on the floor. All the head teachers met during this reporter’s visit across the state all made appeal for chairs to be made available for them.
In some of the schools visited, pupils spread mats on the floor to sit for lessons.
However, the Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu explained that if there are no furniture in any SUBEB completed project, it may be because the contractors of the project are yet to complete the construction of the furniture.
But some of the projects had been completed for over a year and yet the furniture has not been sent to the schools. Investigations show that not less than 10 contractors defaulted in the execution of their contracts. Yet the state has not done anything to bring them to account. Whether this is an indication of mischief on the part of the contractors or a case of collusion between the contractors and government officials is what is left to be seen.
Contractors no-where to be found
Trying to locate some of the contractors in Minna proved very difficult as SUBEB was unwilling to release their addresses. Search for them through the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website was also difficult, as some were not listed there. The reporter tried to locate Dan Modibbo and Sons Nigeria Limited, the contractor that renovated a block of two classrooms in CPS Wawa in Borgu local government area, whose registered office address was said to be at No 122 Zarumai Road in Minna, but the company was not found at the address.
A contractor who constructed a block of two classrooms for N4.03 million at Santali Primary School in Lavun Local Government Area of the state said the contract sum was exclusive of the supply of furniture to the classrooms. He also stated that the contracts for the construction or renovation of classrooms were given separately from that of the supply of school furniture by the board, adding that “except in very few cases, the board separated the award of contract for construction or renovation of building from the supply of school furniture.”
He was quick to add that most of the contractors have not been fully paid for the contract despite having delivered on the terms of their contracts, and the buildings already in use.
In his own case, the contractor said he was still being owed N3.15 million despite the completion and issuance of certificate of completion by the board since 2014.
A document obtained from the Niger state Universal Basic Education Board confirmed that contracts for construction of the classrooms and the supply of furniture are given differently and may not be given to the same contractor.
Frustrated Teachers
Many teachers are dismayed over the inability of government to address the infrastructural decay in the primary schools over the years. A retired teacher who lives in Minna, Mallam Mohammed Umar, said the state of decay will only get worse unless drastic steps are taken towards addressing it. Umar, who was a former teacher at Rafin Sanyin Primary School, Suleja, was shocked when told the state of the school now. “I thought by now it should have been done. When I was there, I retired in 2015; the school was in dire need of renovation. The children were sitting on the floor, we had no diaries or registers, and we had to just manage what we had. So telling me the school still needs total renovation amazes me.”
The Chairman of the Kontagora chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Dan Azumin Kabiru declared that the infrastructures of schools across the state are so bad that they are no longer manageable. “Government is not doing anything to help improve the standard of education through the infrastructures we have. What would the government show to the people to prove that it has much concern for education or regards for the infrastructural situation in the schools.”
Kabiru said the recent effort by government at renovating one or two structures in a school would do nothing to improve the state of infrastructural decay, pointing out that despite all the talks of improved structures and huge money allocated to the education sector, there is nothing to show for it.
Kabiru advised the state government to urgently address the infrastructure decay in schools across the state to avoid total collapse of education. He said renovating one out of a hundred schools is not a solution to the problem.
He stressed the need for additional classrooms but added that the old ones that are dilapidated should first be put in good condition. “Government wants the students to be highly educated but they are not giving us the needed infrastructure and facilities. The schools are in bad condition and nothing is been done. If they do the right thing, they will get the right result. ”
Another teacher in Suleja, Comrade Musa Nasiru echoed his colleagues. He said all the schools in Suleja are in need total rehabilitation, as a large number of the classrooms are decrepit and without furniture. He disclosed that the teachers’ union in Suleja was already looking beyond the government and had started approaching well-to-do individuals and the old boys associations to see how they can assist in putting the classrooms in good learning condition.
A former teacher who is now Chairman of the Niger State House of Assembly Committee on Education, Science and Technology, Bako Kasim Alfa confirmed that the current decay in school infrastructure started years ago and due to government inability to quickly intervene, it ended up becoming worse by the years. He therefore said it will take years for any intervention to make noticeable impact.
He said: “The decay we are experiencing did not just happen today, it was inherited from past governments. Since inception, there has never been any kind of intervention in some of the schools. Intervention for the education sector was zero.”
Government Approach
The Niger State Government claimed that when it assumed power in 2015, it met primary school infrastructure across the state in total decay, as they had been neglected by previous governments. The State Commissioner for Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu, who acknowledged widespread dilapidation of primary school facilities in the state, claimed that SUBEB was doing its best to rehabilitate the schools and ensure the rehabilitation is spread across the state.
The state Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Fatima Magudu said the decrepit state of primary education in the state was due to lack of funds. She said even though the state had spent over N9 billion in the last five years without commensurate improvement in standard, previous administrations were to blame. She said what the current administration met on ground did not justify the money claimed to have been spent.
The commissioner refused to respond to question on why the current administration did not probe previous expenditure on the sector. Her only response was that the current administration was doing its best to improve the system but lack of funds has been a hindrance. She said in her two years in office as commissioner, the Ministry has only accessed about 80 per cent of education budget.
“Right now, we have accessed the 2015 UBEC intervention fund but we have not accessed 2016 and 2017 UBEC fund to which the state government would counter fund. You should know that education is a capital project that is capital intensive. It cannot be completed at once; especially looking at the way we met some of the schools. It would be a gradual process for this government. That is why the government has adopted the whole school renovation approach to identify and work on schools that need intervention,” she said.
She admitted that the ministry’s technical personnel reported that some contractors defaulted by executing shoddy jobs while some failed to complete the contract execution, but dismissed any suggestion of official connivance.
This is however hard to believe, especially because erring contractors were not sanctioned, but only given “letters of warning” telling them their contracts may be terminated if they refused to fully execute.
- This investigation is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. Concluded.