When President Buhari presented the 2019 Budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly, there was just one thing on my mind – Education, and for obvious reasons.

The education sector had been relegated to the background many times previously, getting only 7% in 2018. In fact, the sector just received a meager N 3.9 trillion out of a possible N 55 trillion or approximately 7% in the last 10 years.

In that same time frame, recurrent expenditure gulped the greatest percentage of budgetary allocations at the expense of capital expenditure. The outrageous salaries of the country’s political office holders, especially the legislators, have consistently increased to the extent that they are now one of the most handsomely paid legislators in the world.

In contrast, infrastructure has almost completely broken down and vital sectors like health and education are in shambles. Health professionals continue to flee the nation in droves and 80% of the country’s federal universities are grossly underfunded.

The facilities in many of our universities are dilapidated or non-existent in some cases. Government secondary schools are moribund, with many students forced to learn in poor learning conditions. Year after year, students’ performance in national examinations continues to plummet.

In the area of technological advancement, the country has consistently struggled to keep up with other African countries, never mind the world due to the neglect of research and development. Also, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) are currently on strike.

In short, the country is stagnant in the area of education – literally.

Hence, anyone would expect the Buhari-led administration to make significant positive changes, with these in mind, especially as the general elections draw close. However, if the events that unraveled last Wednesday are to be taken seriously, it seems the Buhari-led administration hasn’t learned a thing.

The administration yet again earmarked only N 462.2 billion for education out of N 8.9 trillion in its proposed budget for 2019. While this is a marked improvement on the N 435.1 billion allocated in 2018, it falls short of the 20% threshold recommended by UNESCO.
In a country that has the world’s highest number of out-of-school children – 13.2 million, according to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and with ASUU and ASUP currently on strike because of the poor state of the country’s university and polytechnics, N 462.2 billion or 5% seems grossly inadequate.

A breakdown of the budget; a whopping 40% allocation to personnel costs, and even more (N 4.4 trillion) on recurrent expenditure, and N 2.031 trillion on capital expenditure shows where the priorities of this administration lie.
Only in Nigeria would we spend significantly more on recurrent expenditure than capital expenditure. Need I say that a great chunk of the money allotted to cover capital expenditure eventually end up in the wrong pockets. Otherwise, we would have improved infrastructure.

The education sector has witnessed much neglect for decades and despite the much-publicized change of the Buhari-led administration, not much has changed. Security and the economy are perhaps the two most known areas in which this administration has failed. Now, I think we can add education to that list.

February 2019 cannot come soon enough!

http://mouthpiece.com.ng/2019-budget-education-takes-the-back-seat-again/