States and the Federal Capital Territory have now tapped into about N234 billion in matching grants meant for basic education, the Universal Basic Education Commission revealed on Thursday. Aisha Garba, who leads UBEC, made the disclosure during a meeting with journalists from the Education Correspondents Association of Nigeria in Abuja.
The breakthrough followed reforms that dismantled barriers preventing states from accessing their share of education funding. Garba explained that the commission reviewed its matching grant guidelines and restructured the Basic Education Action Plan to give states room to tackle their specific education challenges.
"Over the years, states were not coming to access the 50 per cent due to them, and because of that, more than N260 billion was sitting accumulated in the account, waiting for states to come," she told reporters. Under the current administration, UBEC took action to unlock these trapped resources.
The reforms reduced unaccessed grants from over N260 billion to roughly N26 billion. This marked the end of a long period when states couldn't draw down cash earmarked for basic education projects.
Garba said the old funding framework, which had stayed essentially the same for nearly two decades, no longer matched reality in Nigerian classrooms. "Twenty years ago, the challenges in basic education were different from what we have today," she noted, adding that a uniform approach didn't work across diverse states.
"The challenges in Kano are not the same as those in Lagos or Ekiti," she explained, pointing out that the new system lets states use funds to address their particular needs. This flexibility unleashed more than N100 billion in previously locked grants.
The money has already started transforming schools nationwide. States have constructed over 4,600 classrooms and renovated more than 6,100 deteriorating ones using the funds.
Beyond bricks and mortar, the grants funded 2,780 toilets and 678 boreholes. Schools also received more than 334,000 pieces of furniture, addressing longstanding infrastructure gaps.
UBEC's own assessment found that over 40 per cent of basic education infrastructure across the country was in poor shape. In response, the commission introduced new minimum standards requiring perimeter fencing, improved sanitation, solar power and better learning spaces to boost safety and outcomes.
Teacher training emerged as another priority area. UBEC has invested more than N20.4 billion in professional development programmes, with nearly one million educators benefiting from training delivered alongside State Universal Basic Education Boards.
"We recognise that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers," Garba said. "It is not just about constructing classrooms; the most important person in a child's learning journey is the teacher," she added, emphasising that quality instruction drives real improvement.
UBEC has also pushed into digital education, expanding Digital Literacy Centres across the country to strengthen technological access in schools. The commission views this as essential to preparing students for a digital world.
