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The Enumeration Committee of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s homegrown feeding programme has uncovered 349 ghost schools in Nasarawa state. The Committee discovered that some officials were pocketing the money meant for school meals. Two officials were suspended and replaced, however, calls to remove Nasarawa state from the programme were rejected in order to avoid punishing the poor children benefiting from the scheme.

Education stakeholders criticise the Federal Government (FG) decision to spend N999 million on public primary school students under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme. Investigations revealed that some students denied the existence of the programme while food vendors claimed that the programme had become a means for public office holders to embezzle public funds, as they did not receive what the government had promised them.

A report on the University of Lagos (UNILAG) by the Presidential Visitation Panel, which is investigating the affairs of UNILAG between 2016 and 2020, has revealed that two of the states of the Federation of Nigeria, namely Lagos and Ogun, lost NGN2.9 billion (US$7 million) due to gross under-deduction of staff salaries over five years by the institution. The seven-member panel detected cases of contract splitting and frivolous contract awards.

A former Executive secretary of the Lagos State Scholarship Board has been charged with 8 counts of criminal conversion of N127 million belonging to the scholarship board. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s report revealed that the funds meant for students’ scholarship payments, staff welfare and office renovation had been used for personal purposes.

The World Bank has suspended the first tranche of $100 million in a programme to fund free schools in DR Congo after a November report found fake invoices, lists of teachers filled with fake names at non-existent schools, and alleged embezzlement of 63 billion Congolese francs ($31 million). Two senior officials, including the head of teachers’ payroll, are in pre-trial detention.

The cases of corruption in the education sector in Oyo State are ranging from reports of school administrators collecting money, students sitting mock exams, officials asking for grants from principals before distributing the school materials the government purchased for students to receiving money from teachers to deploy them to preferred areas. The governor announced that dismissal and prosecution awaited anyone who sabotaged government efforts through corrupt practices.

Anti-corruption advocacy group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued Delta State governor over poor funding of primary education in his state. His administration has received N7.8bn from Universal Basic Education Commission, apart from other funds from the Federal Government. Around 1,124 primary schools across the state are in a shambles, with very poor teaching facilities. Moreover, SERAP pointed out the case of a student who was sent home because her parents could not afford the illegal school fee of N900.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Culture says there are three major kinds of corruption in the West Africa’s educational system: manipulation of girls, favouritism when it comes to admission into higher institutions and sex for marks. Young girls often fall prey to teachers, among others “who make the education sector the worst hit by corruption. A scholarship programme has been put in place in order to protect these young girls and strengthen the educational terrain.

According to Transparency International, 66 per cent of the money Nigerian governments allocate to education is stolen by corrupt officials. Resource misallocation, corrupt procurement, exchange of sex for grades, examination malpractices, fake qualifications, teacher absenteeism, and corrupt recruitment practices are just some examples of the challenges the education systems is facing. This affects the quality of education, inclusion and learning outcomes with devastating consequences for national economic growth.

A senior lawyer and human right activist has called for proper monitoring and utilization of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Fund. The UBE fund is an annual grant by the federal government to help states upgrade their primary education facilities in order to provide a good education for children across the nation. In his statement, the activist warned that the fund may be diverted by politicians desperately looking for money to buy votes during the forthcoming general election in the country. He said the World Bank gave Nigeria a grant $611 million (N219 billion) for the UBE scheme.