EDUCATION - WHERE ARE GOVERNOR OTTI'S N8.5BN PUBLIC SCHOOLS?
Governor Otti spent N11.5bn on the education sector in the 9 months of July 2023 to March 2024, according to the Budget Performance Reports published by his government on the state-owned website. N8.5bn of the funds was spent on capital projects in the sector, with N4.57 billion directly spent on the construction and rehabilitation of public schools. It is not clear what other capital projects in the education sector that the remaining N3.93bn was spent on.
Many Abians argue that Dr Otti's government did not build any new schools, did not complete any school rehabilitation projects, did not improve Abia's learning systems, and did not provide any scholarships or financial support to Abia students between July 2023 & March 2024, when the N8.5bn was spent on capital projects. Several Abians have continued to question the government about the location of the new and rehabilitated public schools, which many of them opine do not exist anywhere. All the people spoken to by the author from different parts of the state, including teachers all claimed that they are not aware of any such projects completed in their areas during the period under review, while Abia students claim that no form of scholarships was provided to them by Governor Otti's regime during the same period.
Unfortunately for Abia students, the Ebonyi State Governor who was sworn in on the same day with Governor Otti quickly provided both local and international scholarships to Ebonyi students, and slashed the tuition fees at the state-owned university by 10%.
Personnel Costs
As seen in the graph above, Governor Otti spent a total sum of N2.3bn on personnel costs during the 9 months under review. Credit must be given to his government for regularly paying teachers their monthly salaries; however, teachers are complaining that outstanding arrears of salaries owed them by the previous government are yet to paid, despite Governor Otti's promise to clear them before the end of December 2023. Abia equally remains one of the only two states in Nigeria that has not implemented wage awards to its civil servants. This contrasts with his colleague at Ebonyi State, who did not only implement wage awards but has recently increased the salaries of academic and non-academic staff in the state-owned institutions by up to 20%.
It is not clear if subventions were regularly paid to Abia tertiary institutions since Governor Otti came to power, as lecturers at the state-owned university are claiming of unpaid salaries running into several months.
While Ebonyi State has improved the monthly subventions paid to the state-owned tertiary institutions by 40%, the staff of Abia State polytechnic and college of education, are yet to be paid the arrears of their salaries, which Governor promised to clear once elected. It is also not clear if they are paid salaries regularly.
At his inauguration in May 2023, Governor Otti announced that his administration would recruit 5000 new teachers within his one month in office. One year on, that promise remains unfulfilled. Rather than hire new teachers, the government has sacked teachers hired in the twilight years of his predecessor’s regime. The salaries of the sacked teachers range from N18,000 to a meagre N45,000 per month for graduates.
Overhead Costs
Governor Otti spent the sum of N754m on overhead costs in the period under review. While teachers are worried about the lack of improvement in the learning systems, learning environment, and their meagre wages, they are equally worried that despite this massive spend on overhead costs by the government, that no training has been provided to them to enhance their residual knowledge, to enable them improve the quality of teaching in the state.
Improvement in Abia's Education Sector
Despite the massive expense of N11.5bn on Abia’s education sector in just 9 months, the state’s public school system remains unattractive to students due to the lack of investment in infrastructure, teacher welfare, training, and modernization of the learning environment, and learning systems. This leaves the number of out-of-school children unchanged, while staff at the state’s higher institutions are falling out openly with the government for non-payment of wages.
Sources of Data
- Abia State Budget Performance Reports Q3 2023
- Abia State Budget Performance Reports Q4 2023
- Abia State Budget Performance Reports Q1 2024