The insertion of unrelated projects in the Commission’s budget is misguided
The National Assembly has repeatedly been accused of abusing the federal budgetary process by inserting questionable constituency projects. The latest victim of the disturbing trend is the National Commission for Almajiri and out-of-school Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE), an agency saddled with tackling the world’s largest out-of-school children crisis. Out of its N22.8 billion total budget for 2026, N8.4 billion was earmarked for unrelated initiatives, including road construction in Ekiti, Ogun, and Katsina States. Besides, parts of the money would also be used for procuring ambulances, solar streetlights, and other infrastructure which have no link to the education of the vulnerable children.
Expectedly, the revelation has triggered widespread outrage. Several individuals and civil society groups have condemned the diversion. It is unconscionable that the little resources intended to educate out-of-school children would be taken away from their primary purpose. “Whether conceived by the commission or inserted by lawmakers,” said the IA-Foundation, a United Kingdom registered educational charity, “every naira spent on roads, boreholes or ambulances through an education agency’s budget is a naira that does not reach a child who cannot read, write or count”.
At a recent symposium in Abuja with a focus on the security and socio-economic challenges that now define northern Nigeria and their impact on the people, one of the conclusions was that youth populations constitute Northern Nigeria’s greatest strategic asset. However, without adequate investments in education, skills development, entrepreneurship, technology, and job creation, this demographic advantage risks becoming a development challenge.
The Almajiri system, as currently practiced, is a major embarrassment. Without homes or any discernible means of survival except begging, millions of children are confined to the street which exposes them to all forms of abuse. In 2023, the late President Muhammadu Buhari established the Almajiri Commission so that the homeless children could be taken from the streets to schools. Earlier efforts by his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan, for an integrated Almajiri education programme aimed at preserving Islamic education while equipping children with modern knowledge and skills were largely abandoned after he left office. In 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reconstituted the leadership of the Commission, but also with the core mandate of reducing out-of-school children.
However, the impact of the Commission is hardly felt. Last week, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa said the ministry is partnering with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to conduct a comprehensive nationwide survey to establish a more accurate figure for the country’s out- of- school children. For now, the numbers are still more of a guesswork, estimated at between 18 to 20 million. Yet, the consequences of having such huge numbers of children out of school are obvious everywhere, from security to social impact.
Nothing manifests this challenge better in the last decade than the all-pervading violence across the country. Many of the street kids have become easy recruits over the years in sustaining the bloody Boko Haram insurgency. Many politicians and others use them as cannon fodder to advance their interests. Also, as a corollary of the problem, millions of Nigerians are falling increasingly into extreme poverty, a phenomenon worsened by corruption, including in the education sector. The Almajiri Child Rights Initiative (ACRI)–an advocacy and support platform that holds government accountable on the issue of out-of-school children–said that corruption is playing a large role in keeping Nigerian children out of school.
It is therefore unacceptable that some unscrupulous politicians seek to deprive these children of the meagre resources allotted to them through dubious ‘constituency projects.’ We urge the president to intervene on this vexatious matter by calling the National Assembly members and their collaborators in the Almajiri Commission to order.
Punch Nigeria
This Day