31st March, 2023
By Rukayat Adeyemi
Human Development Initiatives (HDI) Foundation, on Friday said it tracked a total of N3.49 billion spent on the Universal Basic Education Funds Tracking (UBEFT) project action plan in Lagos State, in the last six years.
Mrs Olufunso Owasanoye, Executive Director, HDI Foundation, said this at the Official Close-Out of the UBEFT Project and Public launch of the project report on Friday in Lagos.
Owasanoye said, following the support of MacArthur Foundation, the amount tracked by HDI was expended by the State Government from the Basic Education Funds in 11 local government areas of the state.
“The initial project covered a three-year period from 2016 to 2019 while the follow-up funding covered the period of 2019 to 2021.
“The initial report of tracking Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board’s (SUBEBs) 2016 and 2017 action plan was launched on July 30,2019 while the current report covers the implementation of years 2018, 2019 and 2020 action plans,” she said.
According to her, the 11 local government areas of the state which benefitted from the project are : Apapa , Ibeju-Lekki, Agege, Somolu, Amuwo-Odofin, Kosofe, Surulere, Ojo, Eti-Osa, Ajeromi and Mushin.
The foundation director stated that the funds tracked was spent on school projects such as construction, rehabilitation, fencing, sport development, Agricultural development, water and sanitation, among others.
Owasanoye explained that the UBEFT project which officially kicked off in year 2017 has been a very impactful one with series of activities and successes.
“It has been a project of intense engagement between the government and community stakeholders.
“After about seven years of intentional engagement with the major players in basic education both at the national and state levels, we can say that qualitative, inclusive and equitable basic education can be actualised in Nigeria.
“This is possible and will definitely happen with concerted efforts of all and sundry to help hold the government accountable.
“The project did not only focus on engagement with government actors but much more engagement with community stakeholders including school-based management committees, parents forum, Community Development Association /Committees, among other right holders,” she said.
Owasanoye charged education stakeholders to double their efforts to better advocate, initiate, create and innovate for positive changes especially in the area of basic education development in Lagos State and Nigeria at large.
She commended SUBEB and the Lagos State Ministry of Education for their innovation aimed at both digitising and digitalising basic education in Lagos State.
The director said “Eko Excel has definitely been a game changer in the delivery of quality basic education to Lagosians and most definitely, there are still areas of improvement even as the program continues to unfold.”
Prof. Sarah Oloko, Board Chairperson, HDI, said the foundation, over the years, was able to monitor the various projects across the selected local governments in the state with the help of its committed and dedicated staff and project monitors.
Oloko lauded MacArthur Foundation for its support in delivering quality education over the years, adding that there was room for more collaboration between HDI and MacArthur.
In her goodwill message, the Commissioner For Education, Lagos State, Mrs Folashade Adefisayo, hailed HDI for being a worthy partner with the state in ensuring the delivery of quality education projects.
Adefisayo, represented by Mr Adeyemi Adebayo, Director, Basic Education Services, Lagos State Ministry of Education, said that HDI had effectively monitored all the state’s education project within the last six years.
She said that the foundation had provided technical support and training for the state’s school teachers, principals, and SUBEB board members on good practices and management strategies.
“We wish that HDI continues the good work they are doing and we look forward to a more robust collaboration with the state,” she said.
According to her, the foundation, as an intervention partner has demonstrated good practices.
Adefisayo said following the closure of the HDI project and in furtherance to the gains recorded, the state’s Ministry of Education had put in place mechanisms to assess the intervention done by the foundation over the years and scale it up.
Mr.Wahab Alawiye-King, Executive Chairman, SUBEB commended HDI for the initiative and noted that the foundation was one of the most reliable and dependable foundations that the board had ever worked with.
Alawiye-King described the foundation as a corporate-spirited, community-oriented ,socially- conscious and responsible organisation, which had been supporting the state’s education sector in various areas of intervention.
“HDI has assisted us particularly in the areas of providing quality education and proper administration, management and disburse of appropriated funds.
“The foundation has helped the board to strengthen its transparency and deepened its accountability to ensure that value is gotten for the money spent on public projects,” he said.
According to him, the HDI’s foundation project in the state was impactful and result-oriented over the last six years.
The SUBEB boss charged other NGOs to emulate HDI by supporting states and the country in transforming the basic education sector, noting that quality education requires collaboration and consensus.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act was signed into law in 2004 as a Federal Government intervention programme in schools.
The aim is to ensure unfettered access to nine years of formal education, provide free, universal basic education and reduce incidences of dropping out of school, among other targets .