Niger Votes N1.8bn For UBEC Matching Grant

The Niger state government has earmarked N1.8 billion as a matching grant to Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) funded projects in the state.

The state Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, disclosed this while performing the symbolic distribution of classroom furniture and kitchen utensils to boarding schools in the state at the Educational Resource Centres in Minna yesterday.

Governor Umaru Bago reiterated his administration’s commitment to the timely payment of counterpart funds to support educational projects in the State.

Consequently, he said half of the 2025 budget will go to the Education and Health sectors, with N1.8 billion already earmarked as a matching grant to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

He said that through the partnership with the World Bank Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) programme, the state intended to expand access to education for girls and boys and renovate 534 schools nationwide.

“Also, given the importance of technical and vocational education, the sum of N1.512 billion was earmarked for the complete renovation and equipping of technical schools in Suleja”, he added.

The governor said the idea of distributing cooking utensils was to enhance the school feeding initiative, mainly to ensure that nutritious meals are prepared and served safely to the students.

He said the State government will extend the policy beyond improving school kitchens, empowering students to take pride in their education and aspire to be the best in their chosen endeavours.

While enumerating his administration’s educational achievements, Governor Umaru Bago disclosed that his priority is to ensure access to quality education from the basic to the tertiary level.