There is a growing concern over a recent report that 34 of Nigeria’s 36 States are performing poorly in accessing a N263 billion Universal Basic Education (UBEC) fund.
The UBE scheme which was established in 1999, is derived from the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, and Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, of the United Nations (UN), aimed at eradicating the basic social challenges in countries across the world.
The intervention is to ensure free, compulsory, and inclusive basic education for all children from Primary to Junior Secondary School III (JS III) levels.
According to the latest report which alleged that the 34 States are foot dragging over accessing a N263 billion Universal Basic Education (UBE) fund, is obviously affecting the Nigerian government efdorts to reduce the number of out of school children in the country.
The immediate past Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission, (UBEC), Hamid Bobboyi, had told Federal lawmakers who were visiting for oversight functions, that only Kaduna and Katsina States had been able to claim their UBEC funds for the first and second quarters of 2024.
The former Executive Secretary hinted that the South East sytates are the slowest in accessing the UBEC funds, while Abia remains the worst performing State in accessing the funds.
Bobboyi also indicted State Governors for the snail speed efforts to boost basic education.
Data from UBEC shows that the North-West ranks first in claiming their UBEC funds, followed by the South-South, the North-Central, the North-East, and the South-West.
Critics blame State Governors who do not want to pay counterpart fees in order to give their States access to the UBEC funds for the reported failures.
The amount of the UBEC counterpart fund, also known as the Matching Grant Fund vary from States, depending on the sum to be disbursed to a particular State. It is a collaborative funding scheme that involves cost sharing.
Editor: Ken Eseni
