From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
On October 1, 2015, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, declared a state of emergency on the education sector in the state. To those who understand what that means, a lot of surprises would follow to reform and restore the sector to meet up with the 21st-century ideal public schools.
Since 2017, the state government has embarked on a lot of reforms and policy development in its education sector including mass disengagement and engagement of teachers, rehabilitation and rebuild of schools – back up with highest budgetary provisions to work the talk in her over 4,000 public pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. These reforms have translated into unprecedented enrolment of basic education starters.
To El-Rufai, poverty, crime and illiteracy can be much more addressed through deliberate investment in inclusive education for all the people resident in the state and at least, setting a pace within its two terms of four years each which his successor can build upon.
But to public procurement trackers, who believe that government has no excuse in the delivery of best capital projects with the financial and experts available to it, it is appalling that some of the awarded contracts are expediently and perfectly executed, some are either poorly executed or even abandoned at the detriment of public accountability and intending benefitting populace.
For example, Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Barnawa, Kaduna South Local Government Area of the state has both junior and senior sections within the same premises.
In 2017, two different rehabilitation works were awarded to two different construction companies. Sources who spoke in confidence said, the construction company handling the senior section has since completed its job and students have been using the facilities even though the school management has to spend money on leaking roofs each rainy season for learning to continue.
“The rehabilitation works on the junior session has been halted without any clear communication to the benefitting community even as schools reopen for academic activities”, the source noted.
A copy of the notification of award by the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority (KADPPA) dated August 21, 2017, revealed that, one M/S. Mobile Links Technology Ltd won a bid to rehabilitate the school at the cost of N39 million to be completed within 20 weeks of acceptance.
The contractor must have begun the renovation works on the junior section of the school after meeting the financial agreement, with roofing and ceiling of the six blocks already completed as at the time this correspondent visited the school in line with the open data contracting aspect of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) accountability platform which Kaduna State signed into a few years back.
The document, which was signed by the Director-General of KADPPA, the Commissioner, Planning and Budget Commission, Thomas Gyang, was a welcome development to the benefitting community until now when they are demanding explanations from the implementing ministry.
The content of that document read in part, “you are hereby informed that your tender for contract No: KDS/PPA11/75/2017 for the renovation of school buildings at GGSS Barnawa (JNR) Kaduna South LGA, has been accepted by the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority at the cost of N39, 759,088.9.
“Immediately you get this notification of award letter, you should contact the Commissioner for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kaduna State for all the necessary formalities of the signing of the contract agreement.
“The completion period is 20 weeks. If within two weeks from the date of this notification of award, you do not report for the signing of the contract agreement, the award will be revoked.
“Immediately on signing the contract you will be paid 50 percent as an advance upon your presentation of an advance payment guarantee from a reputable bank. Yours faithfully, (Mr Thomas Gyang) Director-General KADPPA, Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna.”
Interestingly, timely completion of the project is not the only problems the staff and students of these schools are suffering from.
The existing toilet facility in the school has sunk due to poor location and lack of drainage system. Apart from that, there is no water in either of the schools while the perimeter fence is partly collapsed thereby expose the girls and their teachers to sinister attacks from street urchins.
It is worrisome that it may take the state a longer time to attain the enviable status of open defecation free (ODF) if thousands of girls in public schools like GGSS Barnawa which is located in the heart of town are still practicing open defecation.
The benefitting community sought the urgent intervention of Governor El-Rufai as they don’t know when their schools will get such an opportunity.