The federal government has warned that it will no longer tolerate completed but unused school buildings, as Education Minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, inaugurated a committee Tuesday to force hundreds of stalled UBEC projects into operation.
Speaking in Abuja, Alausa said many Smart Schools, Bilingual Schools and Alternative Schools funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission remain locked, unfurnished, or without teachers despite reaching advanced stages of construction.
“Infrastructure alone does not educate a child,” Alausa said. “A commissioned school that has not admitted learners has failed to achieve its purpose.”
The Minister told the UBEC Ministerial Implementation and Monitoring Committee that its job is not paperwork.
“Your success will not be measured by the number of meetings held or inspection reports produced,” he said. “It will be measured by one fundamental question: How many schools have become operational, and are educating Nigerian children?”
The committee, chaired by Prof. Rashid Aderinoye, is ordered to track each project from construction to student enrolment. Alausa listed specific tasks: finish incomplete buildings, install furniture and equipment, provide electricity, water and internet, ensure teachers are deployed, and conclude handovers to states.
“Where schools have not admitted students, your work is not yet done,” he said.
Alausa said every day a completed school stays closed means lost opportunities for children. He called abandoned projects a waste of public funds that undermines citizen confidence in government’s ability to deliver.
“The era when projects are declared completed on paper while remaining inaccessible to beneficiaries must come to an end,” he said.
Alausa said the initiatives are innovative but useless without learners. “Every day a completed school remains locked represents lost opportunities for thousands of Nigerian children,”.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, every classroom will count. Every school will function. Every investment will deliver value,” Alausa said.
Kuni Tyessi
