Northern Govs Frustrating Integration of Almajiri System, former UBEC Boss Alleges

John Shiklam

A former Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education (UBEC), Prof. Ahmed Mohammed Modibbo, has accused northern states’ governors of frustrating the integration of the Almajiri schools with basic education.

In an attempt to address the problems of the Almajiris in the region, the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan was said to have spent billions of naira for the construction of more than 100 model schools, purposely for the integration of the system with basic education.

However the schools were said to be rotten away as they have not been put to use since they were constructed years ago.

Speaking at a lecture with the theme: “Before the Ban on the Almajiri System of Education in Nigeria” organised by the Centre for Historical Documentation and Research of the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria held at the weekend, Modibbo alleged that the schools were abandoned by state governments because they wanted to be given cash to construct the schools.

He alleged: “The state governors left the schools unoccupied, abandoned and vandalised because most state governments refused to even take them over, not to talk of fulfilling their own obligations contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the federal government.

“The state governments were not happy with the decision of the federal government to undertake the project through UBEC and the Education Tax Fund (ETF), as they wanted the money to be given to them so that they could nominate contractors for the project.