In the media

A recent report highlights risks of investment of funds into the UK education sector by African elites, including “politically exposed persons”, some of whom have been convicted of corruption or whose assets have been seized by the UK. According to the report, the gap between what west African PEPs pay for a UK education and what they can legitimately afford is a significant red flag. Relatively lax anti-money laundering rules in the British education sector mean that school administrators and admissions staff are potentially complicit in illegal flows of money.

The standards of education in post-primary schools in Nigeria has considerably decreased. Dilapidation, unhealthy and stinking learning environments, lack of materials for required teaching and low morale in teaching staff are among the factors responsible for the critical state of the unity schools. There are also allegations of mismanagement of funds by administrators and other officials of the unity schools.

Tales of corruption in Nigeria are many in number. One example is the case of the clerk at the state examinations board who was called to account for the disappearance of $100,000 in exam fees. An analyst of the country says: "There's this perception among officials in Nigeria that national government is there to divide up the booty of oil wealth." That political culture then filters through to layers below, to the point where even local police or school teachers or receptionists at public hospitals may consider it their right to demand bribes. "It's about people monetizing their position in society so that even people with the lowest amount of authority will use that to extract a small amount."

Over 2,000 primary school teachers from about 27 local government areas of Oyo State protested on what they described as monumental frauds being perpetrated by some officials of the state in connivance with some State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) officials. In Ibadan North Local Government alone, about 109 teachers claimed that the fraudulent state officials fleeced them over N54m from illegal deductions made from their salaries.

A survey conducted by Transparency International in Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda covered different actors in the education system. The reports highlight the lack of budget information in schools and call for strengthened regulation and accountability, as well as greater involvement of school communities and parents.