Despite the increase in the allocation to the education sector in the 2017 budget by the Kogi State government, from 7.7 percent in 2016 to 13.76 percent in 2017, stakeholders have flayed the government for the inability to move nearer the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s benchmark on education of 26 percent.
Brainstorming at the “Citizens Dialogue on the 2017 Approved Kogi State Education, Agriculture and Health Sector Budgets”, yesterday in Lokoja, they bemoaned the inability of governments at both the state and federal levels to do the needful, because of the important role of education in the development of any nation.
“The analysis of the approved budget has shown that there is an increase in the allocation to the education sector from 7.7 percent in 2016 to 13.76 percent in 2017. There was also an increase in allocation to agriculture from 2.7 percent in 2016 to 4.53 percent in 2017. Sadly, allocation to the health sector reduced from 7.65 percent in 2016 to 6.6 percent in 2017.
“Nigeria and Kogi State have also consistently failed to honour international commitments and benchmarks such as the Maputo Declaration on agriculture of a minimum of 10 percent, Africa Union (AU) benchmark on health of 15 percent allocation and UNESCO benchmark on education of 26 percent allocation”, said Gift Owonipa, the Executive Director, Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID).
“As citizens of Kogi State, we have also realized that we have a huge role to play in the implementation of the approved budget, especially now that Nigeria is witnessing dwindling oil prices and there is the urgent need to diversify our revenue source in the state.
“Education is the bedrock of achievements of the developed societies. Improvement in education is necessary for the transformation of the Nigerian society. These improvements are needed in increased enrolment in the primary, secondary and tertiary level; improvements in learning outcomes and acquisition of skills and the conversion of the knowledge of science and technology that powers societal development.
“There is therefore the need for continous improvements in the quantity and quality of resources available to the education sector if Nigeria is to meet its development vision and the 2030 agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, she added.
The cross-section of participants called on government to take heed of the 26 percent UNESCO allocation benchmark for the education sector in the search for robust and sustainable development in Kogi State and Nigeria as a whole.
A look at the Kogi State fiscal plan for the year shows that while the total budget stands at N174,851,544.523, with a recurrent expenditure proposal of N58,714,125.607 and capital expenditure of N166,137,418.916, total allocation to the ministry of education, science and technology is N5,632,773,767.
A further analysis of allocation to the education sector in 2017 approved Kogi State budget showed a 68 percent increase in the allocation to the sector from N7,697,444, 205 in 2016 to N24,058,149,936 in 2017.
Credits: James Azania | Nation
