New dawn
It is good that more state govts are now drawing from the UBEC funds to boost basic education There appears to be a new dawn for states and the Federal
It is good that more state govts are now drawing from the UBEC funds to boost basic education
There appears to be a new dawn for states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in accessing the previously un-accessed matching grants from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC). Speaking at the 29th Quarterly Meeting with the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs), the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Aisha Garba, said over N100 billion has been accessed through sustained advocacy and reforms, which have enabled 30 states and the FCT to draw down on grants that had been idle for years.
The executive secretary noted that the theme of the meeting: “Accelerating Basic Education Performance Through Digitally Enabled Coordination” underscores the commission’s renewed focus on leveraging technology to improve planning, monitoring, and service delivery. She noted that the shift from diagnosing systemic challenges to implementing large scale reforms under its 2025 to 2031 strategic blueprint, has begun to yield measurable results.
The reforms are said to have impacted about 1.8 million children in 2025. Dr. Garba told members of the board: “This transition reflects our renewed role, not only as a funding institution but also as a systems enabler, driving alignment, strengthening delivery, and ensuring that impact is felt across all states.” She went on: “The results of this collective effort are already evident. Over 8.7 million learners have benefited from improved learning conditions and instructional materials. While more than 244,000 teachers have been equipped with skills in inclusive pedagogy and digital literacy.”
She further noted: “These gains represent meaningful progress towards improving learning outcomes across the basic education system.” She said the commission has “adapted to the evolving needs of states’ basic education. I’m pleased to announce that the revised matching grants guidelines are now finalised, streamlined, transparent, and fit for purpose, strengthening our commitment to ensure every Nigerian child reaches their full academic potential.”
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We are excited that the dormant UBEC funds are now more easily accessed by the states and the FCT, where they are needed. We believe that the conditions that previously made the funds un-accessible must have been resolved without compromising important basic standards.
The fact that a humongous sum of about N200 billion remained un-accessed over the years due to bureaucratic bottlenecks and low-state participation showed that something was wrong with the previous process. The executive secretary noted that: “Between 70 and 80 per cent of those funds have been accessed, with more states actively engaging the system. This marks a clear departure from the past.”
We urge states to key into the UBEC funds so that access and quality of basic education across the country will continue to improve. With basic education, the level of indoctrination which fuels insecurity will drastically reduce. The less educated a person is, the higher the chances of getting easily indoctrinated on false religious doctrines.
Also, basic education helps in skill acquisition, which in turn reduces the level of unemployment amongst the youths, which stood at 53 per cent as at 2025.
We urge every state in the country to key into the funds by making their counterpart funds ready. Even the so-called educationally advantaged states should key into the programme, to improve the quality of basic education offered in their states.
Of course, all the educationally disadvantaged states should make accessing the funds a top priority. That will help address substantially, the tragedy associated with out-of-school almajiri children fuelling insecurity in many parts of the country.
