Ezekwesili: Governors Diverted UBE Funds to Hire Thugs, Praise Singers for 2007 Polls

 Oby Ezekwesili

A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Tuesday accused some governors of diverting funds meant for hiring teachers under the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme to hire thugs and praise singers for the prosecution of the 2007 general election.

She also disclosed that no fewer than two million graduates and youths annually joined the country’s labour market, noting that the growing number of jobless youths “constitutes daunting challenge to Nigeria’s integrity.”

Ezekwesili, who was also Vice-President of the World Bank (African Region), gave a sordid diagnosis of the country’s education sector at the third Lagos State Education Summit,  held in Lagos.

The summit, with the theme: “Qualitative Education in Lagos State: Raising the Standard”, attracted stakeholders, including Governor Babatunde Fashola; a former deputy governor, Mrs. Adebisi Sosan; Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, and tutors-general across the state’s education districts, among others.

Ezekwesili told the gathering how the absence of analysis, data and research contributed to the falling standard of education in the country, citing a case of how the Department of Research and Statistics in the Ministry of Education was turned into contract-awarding department before her appointment.

She reeled out the data of the country’s falling standard of education at the time she was minister, noting that enrolment “was low; quality of education below the standard; schools were not well-managed; and it displayed wide inequity in terms of gender enrolment, though differed across the states”.

She also explained another disturbing episode, which she said, occurred in 2006 when the UBE was launched, saying some governors used the funds earmarked for recruiting teachers under the UBE scheme to hire thugs and praise singers.

She said when the UBE was launched “to increase access to basic education, there was demand for more teachers in all states of the federation. The federal government responded to the challenges by providing funds for recruiting more qualified teachers. At the end, some state governors used the fund to recruit praise singers and thugs during the electioneering in 2007”.