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The Niger State government has said it will spend over 50 per cent of its 2025 budget on education and health.
Governor Mohammed Bago said this during the distribution of kitchen utensils to boarding schools in Minna.
He disclosed that N1.8bn was earmarked as a matching grant to the Universal Basic Education Commission for the timely payment of counterpart funds to support educational projects in the state, adding that 534 schools would also be renovated.
The governor, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Usman, said, “About half of the 2025 budget will go to the education and health sectors. Also, N1.8bn has been earmarked as a matching grant to the Universal Basic Education Commission.
“The administration is committed to the timely payment of counterpart funds to support educational projects in the state.
“Through our partnership with the World Bank Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment programme, we intend to expand access to education for girl-child and renovate 534 schools across the state.
“Also, given the importance of technical and vocational education, the sum of N1.512bn was earmarked for the complete renovation and equipping of technical schools in Suleja.”
The governor stressed that his priority was to ensure that access to quality education was provided from basic to tertiary levels.
He commended the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and all critical stakeholders for their support in revamping the education sector in the state.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Hadiza Mohammed, described the gesture of the governor as a significant step in the collective effort to enhance education in the state.
She said the state had 43 active boarding schools under the government’s direct feeding programme which, she said, included 34 conventional boarding schools and eight integrated Quranic education schools, with a total of 9,382 students.
She noted that the number was expected to rise to 12,000 in the 2024/2025 academic session.
