ABUJA— EDUCATION Minister Fabian Osuji has said that “posterity will not forgive us if we waste borrowed scarce resources’’ following the World Bank’s recent credit of N10.88 billion.
The money was the latest amount released by the bank for the UBE scheme.
Irked by the ills that trailed similar projects in the past, Osuji said: “Posterity will not forgive us if we waste these borrowed scarce resources and inadvertently mortgage the future of our country for nothing.’’
The minister gave the warning yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the second National Steering Committee for World Bank Assisted Universal Basic Education (UBE) Project 1 (UBEP1) IDA credit.
The pilot project involved 16 states and the federal government with World Bank co-ordinating the International Development Association (IDA) credit to assist uplift UBE in the country.
Osuji said: “I wish to reiterate that the ills that trailed similar projects in the past must be avoided this time.’’
The World Bank had in the past given a credit of about N13 billion for the Universal Primary Education Project 1 (UPE1), a project for text book production, which was bungled.
“We must remember that these funds are in form of credits which are repayable by the federal and participating state governments and which came from taxpayers and citizens of this state are at stake,’’ he told state education commissioners who are attending the meeting.
The UBE project, he said was a joint interim strategy update of the federal and state governments assisted by the World Bank.
He said that the development would help build education managers’ capacity to effectively and properly manage scarce resources allocated to the sector.
Osuji said that the project was aimed at improving economic governance, creating conditions for rapid private sector-led poverty reduction and empowering communities to play active roles in their development.
He said the ministry planned to ensure that education projects selected for funding were aligned to Strategic National Education Plan (SNEP) and fulfil the needs of National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).
The minister also said that such projects should be compatible with the new initiative of Service Compact with Nigeria (SERVICOM).
The UBE1, he said was designed to support the Federal Ministry of Education’s efforts in the implementation of the UBE programme and build local capacity in special skills.
The education skills are in the areas of participatory planning, financial management, budgeting, procurement, project implementation and community participation in the establishment and running of schools.
The World Bank showed that the total package of the credit was about N13.6 billion (100 million dollars) with federal having a credit of N2.72 billion (20 million dollars) and each state N680 million (five million dollars).
