In what is fast becoming an eyesore in Abuja, the nation’s seat of power, sub-standard schools built primarily for money-making now dot the landscape of most satellite towns in the FCT. With the education inspectorate doing little or nothing to address the menace, stakeholders fear that the practice may harm a system already struggling with the scourge of multi-layered neglect. DIRISU YAKUBU reports!
education is seen largely as both a service and a right. It is the responsibility of the government across all tiers to dispense education to the citizenry, whose right it is to embrace. Difficult as it is to enumerate its mileage in a single report, it suffices to suggest that the biggest weapon in the armoury of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists and Africa’s freedom fighters was the education they had, which enabled them to dare the colonial imperialists, forcing the latter to relinquish power reluctantly.
So big is the harvest of a good quality education that the Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then Premier of the Western Region, made education compulsory and free for children, many of whose parents could not afford fees and other payments required to keep their wards within the four walls of an educational institution.
The near collapse of governance at all levels in subsequent years culminated in the fall of education standards, forcing well-to-do parents to withdraw their children and wards from public schools for enrollment in private institutions.
With improved earnings over the years, many parents took the private schools’ option, given their ability to pay more remuneration to teachers while exposing pupils and students to better-teaching models and other extra-curricular activities.
The patronage of private schools, needless to state here, has seen education morph from a service to business ventures. Across major cities in Nigeria, including Abuja, the seat of power, those who have no expertise in school administration have, with a combination of greed and crass opportunism, set up schools, targeting the children of low-income earners, to earn a living.
In most of the satellite towns in the FCT, schools lack basic infrastructure, and qualified manpower and recreational facilities are a common sight today. With government officials either playing the ostrich or abdicating their duties, enforcement of standards has thus been relegated to the background.
In a tour of some ‘schools’ in Abuja, The PUNCH uncovered a litany of rot, ranging from the engagement of semi-literate teachers to the absence of libraries, laboratories, sports facilities, to name just a few.
Findings revealed that the school proprietors, while charging relatively high fees, pay their teachers peanuts, citing the harsh economic realities of the times.
At Leaders Academy Drive, off Tiga Street, Kurudu, Abuja Municipal Area Council, is a three-bedroom apartment housing a family of four. It is a middle-class residential building, plastered but not painted. On this fateful Tuesday morning, a sharp voice emanating from a store in this building got the attention of this correspondent.
To his surprise, a young lady reading out Nigerian States and their capitals announced to a class of four children an impending examination to test their mastery of what she had taught them thus far.
Surprised that a school was being run in such a location, this reporter took a few steps in the direction of the young teacher, and this conversation ensued.
“Good morning, madam. How are you doing today? You run a school here?,” I asked her.
Good morning, sir. Yes, we are just starting,” she replied. “Our target is the young children who are old enough to be in school now, but due to one reason or another, are not. Things are tough for many families, and we are trying to make sure that we have in place a system that can be of assistance to these young children and their parents.”
Then I went further by asking to know if it was a conventional school she set out to run.
“Interesting! I will be right to say this is not a formal school but an arrangement to get these young minds engaged, preparatory to having them enrolled in a conventional school.”
She replied, “It is a conventional setting, sir. From here, their parents can take them straight to basic four or five and after a year or two, they will proceed to junior secondary school. I have ten pupils here of different ages. They did not start at the same time, and I don’t teach them the same thing.”
When I asked which curriculum they used in teaching the kids, she added, “I teach them the things I believe they should know. I teach them English, Mathematics, Civics Education, Christian Religious Studies and Basic Science. We are not using any curriculum for now.”
On the affordability of her arrangement, she replied, “We have an agreement with the parents. I am also a bit careful because there are basic requirements for setting up a school. The parents love what I do here, and they support me. I don’t want to speak in detail about fees or whatever you call it.”
She refused to state whether she was a trained teacher or not, when this correspondent asked to know. Instead, she stated her love for teaching endeared her to the project.
“I will go back to school. It is my love for teaching that inspired me to start this. I will go back to school soon. Like I said, these children are very young. I am just trying to teach them basic things they should know at this stage of their lives,” she added.The story of this unnamed “school” resonates across many communities in the Federal Capital Territory. Taking advantage of a system with a near-zero disposition to the enforcement of basic standards, individuals with little or no training in education set up ‘schools’ that can best be described as business centres.
Still in the Kurudu District, the story is slightly better at the Lifespring Academy, which runs nursery/primary and secondary schools.
At Lifespring, the school lacks a modest space required for the sporting needs of the students. As it were, students here make use of public fields at the Local Education Authority Primary School for their interhouse sports and other outdoor activities.
A man who simply identified himself as Mr Joshua told our correspondent that though Lifespring is an upgrade on other schools in the vicinity, it suffers from a lack of adequately trained manpower needed for imparting knowledge.
He said, “Everything is turning to business, and we should be worried. Here (Lifespring), one is surprised to see that they have an SSCE and NECO accreditation centre. That is their biggest bargaining chip. They will tell you that their accreditation status indicates the high rating they enjoy in the books of the Federal Capital Territory Administration authorities.
“We must not manage two things: education and health. If health and education facilities are substandard, let us not expect much to reap thereafter. What is happening is that business is winning, but services are neither here nor there.”
Lifespring Academy, Kurudu, Federal Capital Territory
A trip to the Ivy Academy, Kpeyegi, revealed a similar pattern of poor standards and lack of trained manpower. A pre-nursery, nursery, and primary school, Ivy Academy boasts a handful of skilled teachers and several school certificate holders.
At the Graceland International Academy, Orozo, a magnificent edifice, paints a phoney picture of efficiency on how things ought to be done.
The PUNCH’s findings, however, revealed a litany of shady deals, including the poor payment of teachers, some of whom have complained to no avail.
“While the management of the institution frequently announces an increment in the fees paid by the students, the same does not reflect in the remuneration of teachers who do the bulk of the work,” a young woman who declined to be named told our correspondent.
According to her, “These people see themselves as destiny helpers and in a way, they are right. They make you feel that you are indebted to them for life for allowing you to earn a living. So, you have no power to influence things and a staff member, you also have to be careful because colleagues who are into eye service can betray you,” she added, without providing further explanation.
Perhaps, the worst of these private schools is the Potter’s Legacy Ville Academy, Anka. Located along the Karu/Orozo/Karshi expressway, one can be carried away with the allure of its beautiful name.
Exposed to multiple dangers, including security threats and noise pollution, the unfenced school is certainly where everything happens except conducive learning. Without a gate, the school, as well as its pupils and teachers, are exposed to the threat of abduction, invasion, and all forms of criminal activities.
Needless to state here, the school is an employer of poorly-trained teachers, who are only too glad to be earning a living with the little knowledge they can dispense.
At the City Royal Junior and Secondary Schools, Nyanya, Abuja, the major challenge identified by our correspondent is the lack of a playing field for extra-curricular activities for both teachers and students.
“Without striking a balance between education and sports, “a Mathematics teacher, Mr Haruna Kebe, argued that the needed psychological equilibrium needed to excel may prove a huge challenge for students.
While noting that education has gone beyond the rendering of essential services, Kebe frowned at the influx of businessmen into the sector, who merely built schools for the sole purpose of financial gain.
He said, “People are setting up schools as business ventures. Many of them are not educationists, but they are in the business of running schools everywhere. In some cases, residential buildings are converted to schools. They are tapping into a gap in the system to make the argument that they are also creating jobs. These people don’t care about standards. This is a grave concern we must address as a nation,” he said.
Haruna
He further lamented the absence of a sports field for the physical development of children in the areas of football and track events, saying, “Most of them don’t have the environment for sporting activities, and this is one of the requirements for setting up a school.”
The Maths teacher, who has taught the subject in different schools, further revealed how the lack of standards makes it easier for school proprietors to enslave teachers, taking advantage of the scarcity of jobs in the country.
“Most of the teachers are overworked. In the last school I taught (name withheld), I was teaching Mathematics from JSS 1-3, taking SS1 students in Physics and handling Basic Science for JSS1-3 Basic Technology. You can see that they don’t care about the staff’s mental health. They are only interested in what comes into their pockets,” he added.
He also faulted religious bodies for setting up schools that they cannot manage.
“The churches are establishing schools because through these schools, they make money to run the churches. I have no issue with well-run schools owned by churches. But a situation where a church struggling to find its feet also sets up a school simultaneously leaves much to be desired,” he added.
Qualification
“How many teachers are qualified? There are very few. But I don’t think a Bachelor’s degree in Education is the main thing, because some of these so-called qualified teachers are not better than those who do not have degrees in education. I have a B.Sc in Mathematics and a National Diploma in Chemical Engineering, but I have a passion for teaching. I see it as my calling. I have been in teaching, off and on, since 2007, but I don’t think a B.Ed holder in Mathematics will look me in the eyes and tell me he is a better teacher than I am. I will not accept it,” he added.
“What they pay the teachers is nothing to write home about. The money is very small compared to their workload. Before now, school owners in Abuja were paying N15,000 for NCE holders, N20,000 for B.Sc. This was before inflationary pressure forced them to have a rethink. Some of the schools now pay holders of B.Sc N30,000 a month, especially those who are not in the sciences.
“In the last school I taught, the owner paid N30,000, and she deducted N2,000 each from those monthly salaries until it accumulated to N30,000. This amount was kept for each other, and anytime they wanted to leave, they were required to give a month’s notice. It’s this N30,000 that would be given to him or her in full anytime they choose to walk away. But if a teacher chooses to leave without a month’s notice, the N2,000 deductions would be forfeited.
“But as a Science teacher, I earned twice what my counterparts in the Arts were earning. The money is not encouraging. But the standard schools pay as much as N70,000 to N80,000 a month,” he explained.
Unskilled teachers
Accoroding to the Mathematics teacher, “Most of the school owners prefer school certificate holders as teachers because they are comfortable with the little token they pay them. The graduates demand higher salaries. In most of the schools, the school certificate and NCE holders are more in number compared to graduates because it costs less to retain their services.
“In the last place I taught, the proprietor retained me because she was bent on having an SSCE/NECO centre accredited for her. One of the requirements for having this centre approved for you is that your teachers must be well-educated. You must have at least five or six B. Ed or BSc holders before a NECO centre will be approved for a school. When the officials came to inspect the place, we were the qualified teachers who stood in defence of the school. The NCE and SSCE holders stayed away.”
A teacher in one of the privately-owned schools in Jikwoyi, identified simply as Chidi, called on the FCTA education inspectorate department to take its job seriously, noting that some of the schools operating in the nation’s capital today have no business existing in the first instance.
He said, “Ultimately, it is the future of the young ones we are jeopardising by sharp practices happening in these so-called schools. I know a man who turned the three-bedroom flat built for him by his son in Lagos into a private school. He goes around telling gullible parents that God instructed him to start a school.
FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike
“Being an evangelist, it is understandable that people are listening to him. What shocked me more was that with time, some parents withdrew their children from their schools and enrolled them at the there-bedroom apartment turned school.”
Asked how the evangelist cum educationist is paying the teachers, he was temporarily lost for words before continuing, “That is the interesting part of the story. He brainwashed some young people in his church into believing that the school is God’s project. When he collects fees from the pupils, he pays the teachers. At times, he pays when his son sends him money. This is how the place is run.”
Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH, school proprietor, Mustapha Haruna, urged those with genuine interest in running schools to abide by due process and avoid cutting corners.
Haruna, who runs the Discovery International Academy, Suleja, Niger State, described education as the finest gift a nation can bequeath to the younger generation, stressing that anyone desirous of owning a school to build the lives of young minds must be prepared to go the whole distance.
Lamenting the influx of Nigerians into the system who have no training in school administration, Mr Haruna warned that if left unchecked, such a system may end up doing more harm than good.
In an interview with our correspondent, The Imiegba, Edo-born school proprietor said, “One needs to be passionate about education. It is not about making money. If you are making money and not impacting the lives of the pupils and students, you have not started, and you have no reason to remain in the system.”
For a country desirous of joining the league of advanced nations, education is a sector too significant to be left in the hands of unskilled men whose interest lies not in quality service delivery but in profit-making. From basic to secondary school education, the government, including federal, sub-national, and local, must take decisive steps to address the looming danger threatening the progress of the Nigerian state.
The federal government has approved the comprehensive modernisation and upgrade of Onne, Rivers, Delta and Calabar ports as part of efforts to expand Nigeria’s maritime infrastructure beyond Lagos.
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, disclosed this in a post on X, noting that the approval builds on the government’s earlier plan to modernise and upgrade the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos.
According to the minister, the latest approval is aimed at developing a more balanced, efficient and globally competitive port system.
“Under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu @officialABAT, infrastructure renewal and economic diversification remain central to the Renewed Hope Agenda,” the minister said.
He explained that efficient port infrastructure was essential to the government’s economic objectives because of its role in facilitating trade, supporting industries and attracting investments.
“Modern and efficient ports are critical to this vision because they facilitate trade, support industry, attract investment and create jobs.
“Extending the modernisation programme beyond Lagos will complement ongoing investments in Apapa and Tin Can Island, while helping to reduce the concentration of cargo traffic around Lagos and creating additional efficient gateways for international trade.”
Oyetola said the planned upgrades at Onne, Rivers, Delta and Calabar ports would improve cargo handling and operational efficiency, while reducing the time vessels spend at the ports.
IHe added that the projects would also strengthen regional connectivity and make the movement of goods more predictable and cost-effective.
“These ports have strategic roles to play in our trade, industrial and regional development, and we are determined to equip them to meet the demands of a growing economy,” Oyetola added.
The minister said the approval formed part of a wider government strategy to expand the country’s maritime infrastructure.
He noted that the federal government had also approved the development of the Ibom, Bakassi, Agge, Gateway, Ondo and Bonny deep seaports.
“Our approach is comprehensive. We are modernising existing ports while facilitating the development of new deep seaports,” he said.
Oyetola said the combination of existing port upgrades and new deep seaport projects would increase Nigeria’s maritime capacity and strengthen economic connections across the country.
“Together, these investments will expand Nigeria’s maritime capacity, create stronger economic corridors and position our country as a major maritime and logistics hub in Africa.
“Our vision is an integrated maritime and logistics system in which ports, roads, rail, inland waterways and other transport infrastructure work together to enable the seamless movement of cargo.
“We want Nigerian businesses to spend less time and resources moving their goods, while creating an environment that encourages investment and supports job creation.”
Oyetola said the ministry would continue to collaborate with state governments, terminal operators, investors, shipping companies and other stakeholders to ensure the projects deliver tangible improvements to Nigeria’s marine and blue economy.
Veteran Nollywood actor, Jide Kosoko, has recalled how the rise of social media sparked fears among older entertainment industry practitioners that they would be completely kicked out of their jobs.
It was reports that Kosoko made this known during an interview with Punch. News
The ace movie star said many people worried that the technology could push them out of business.
However, reflecting on the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), Kosoko admitted that he was yet to fully understand the technology.
He said, “When social media came, we were afraid. Is this not going to kick us out of business? Is this not going to kick us out completely? But, I must say that eventually, we were able to scale through by virtue of the fact that most of our junior colleagues are computer literate, unlike people like us.
“We eventually used it to our advantage, so we have to thank God for that.
“When I started seeing AI, I still don’t understand it till now.”
In other news, Jide Kosoko has appealed to Nigerians to give President Bola Tinubu more time to address the country’s challenges.
The thespian said it is too early to judge the administration before its policies and reforms have had enough time to produce results.
Speaking during an interview with FeelrightnewsTV, Kosoko compared running a country to constructing a building.
He said no one can fairly decide whether a building project is successful before it is completed, adding that the same approach should apply when assessing a government.
The actor also said President Tinubu, like every other human being, is not perfect and should not be expected to get everything right. Politics
According to him, no leader can completely avoid mistakes while governing a nation.
Kosoko further claimed that many people opposing the current administration were shaping public opinion and influencing what Nigerians, especially young people, think about the government.
Nigeria is set to end regulated pricing in the domestic gas market by September 24, 2028, as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority targets a transition to a fully established willing-buyer, willing-seller framework.
The Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Rabiu Umar, disclosed this on Thursday at the Gas Market Maturity Workshop organised under the Decade of Gas initiative at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, Abuja.
Umar said the transition would be based on measurable conditions that demonstrate the maturity of different segments of the gas market, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
“Gas must be affordable for Nigerians while supporting President Ahmed Tinubu’s investment reforms. This transition is in line with the Nigeria decade of gas goal to become a gas-powered economy by 2030,” he stated.
He said the PIA envisaged a shift from a market largely coordinated through regulation to one driven increasingly by commercial contracts between willing buyers and willing sellers.
“Invariably, this is the first time that we have been bold enough to set a clear target for our gas market transition,” he noted.
According to Umar, the authority was targeting a 24-month period to establish the conditions required to declare the market a fully functioning willing-buyer, willing-seller market.
“The journey we are starting should lead us to a place where we should target a 24-month at best period within which we will be able to declare the market to be truly a willing-buyer, willing-seller market.”
He stressed that the transition must not be based on broad statements of intent but on clearly defined indicators, thresholds and safeguards.
Umar identified supply availability and diversity, the number and quality of buyers and sellers, access to transportation infrastructure, strength of contracts, payment reliability, delivery obligations, market information and credible price signals as key indicators of market maturity.
The NMDPRA boss, however, said Nigeria’s domestic gas supply remained tight despite the country’s vast gas resources, stressing that infrastructure development must be matched by sufficient gas molecules to utilise the infrastructure.
“If you look at supply, for example, on the domestic side, it is still tight, no matter how you look at it. We have a lot of work to do in our infrastructure space,” he said. “The focus right now is not just delivering the infrastructure, but ensuring that we have enough molecules to fill the pipeline,” he added.
Umar specifically stressed the need to ensure that major gas infrastructure projects, including the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline, had sufficient gas supply to make them commercially useful.
He said the role of the regulator would also evolve as the market developed, with greater emphasis on establishing market rules, ensuring fair access, protecting competition and monitoring market conduct.
The NMDPRA chief executive disclosed that the authority had commenced consultations on draft regulations on anti-competitive practices, aimed at translating the competition provisions of the PIA into enforceable regulatory rules.
He also called for a realistic assessment of the different segments of the Nigerian gas market, noting that they were at different stages of development.
According to him, the sequencing of the transition would require determining which market segments were ready to move first, the thresholds they must meet and the safeguards required before liberalisation.
Umar further disclosed that the authority was nearing the conclusion of the process for the issuance of gas distribution licences, with the exercise expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
He said qualified companies would be issued gas distribution licences in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The NMDPRA boss also said the authority was working to deepen domestic utilisation of liquefied petroleum gas and liquefied natural gas, stressing that increased domestic utilisation of the country’s gas resources would be an important indicator of economic growth.
He said the government was also seeking to expand the use of compressed natural gas, while several LNG and gas-to-power projects were being developed across the country.
According to him, greater domestic gas utilisation could support power generation, reduce dependence on imports and minimise transmission losses associated with moving electricity over long distances.
He added that the authority was committed to creating a predictable, coherent and transparent regulatory environment capable of attracting long-term investment into the gas sector.
Umar said gas projects required substantial upfront investment and long-term contracts before investors and financiers could commit capital.
“For you to take an FID in a gas investment, you need to have a long-term contract,” he said, adding that the authority was willing to engage with individual projects to identify regulatory measures that could support their development.
Also speaking, the Coordinating Director of the Decade of Gas Secretariat, Ed Ubong, said Nigeria could achieve a willing-buyer, willing-seller gas market before the end of the first horizon of the Decade of Gas programme in 2030.
Ubong said the programme had identified clear markers for achieving the target, including increasing gas supply to 12.6 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.
He said 16 key infrastructure projects were expected to support the growth of the gas market, while more than 60 projects capable of creating about 15 billion cubic feet per day of gas demand had been identified on the demand side.
He noted that a mature gas market would also require the development of a successful gas-to-power market and greater access to cooking gas.
In her speech, the President of the Nigerian Gas Association, Engr. Mrs Yetunde Taiwo, said the transition to a willing-buyer, willing-seller market must be driven by clearly defined milestones.
Taiwo said the NGA had consistently advocated for a commercially driven gas market but stressed that the transition must be properly sequenced to avoid moving either prematurely or too slowly.
“As NGA, what we would like to see really is to see those goalposts, those milestones that have been set, that makes it a realistic journey for us to say we have achieved a willing buyer, willing seller status.”
According to her, Nigeria had made significant progress in the gas industry over the past decade, but substantial work remained to be done.
She called for stronger collaboration between government, regulators and industry, with government providing clear policy direction, regulators establishing predictable rules, and industry continuing to invest, innovate and execute projects.
Taiwo said the ultimate objective should be a gas market capable of attracting investment, encouraging greater participation and delivering reliable gas to industries, businesses and consumers.
