Community Engagement for Accountability: The other side of the story… by Yahya Anas
It was a sunny Thursday and my bus was traveling on the steep incline that leads to Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. My first point of engagement was Kufana, a settlement with about 600 dwellers amid the rocky terrains of Kajuru LGA. The settlement is defined by a major tarred road, where the community school is located, leading to a community church with adjoining untarred roads leading to individual households.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) awarded a contract for the rehabilitation of 2 Classrooms in the community school in Kufana for the sum of N6,192,083.00 (Six million, one hundred and ninety two thousand and eighty three naira) to ARCLEBAN CONCEPT NIG.LTD. At the time of my visit in March 2018, the project was still ongoing and the contractor was present on site. The head teacher confirmed the necessity of the project by showing me another block that was brought down by rain, she said they required more classroom blocks in the school and expressed appreciation to the government on their laudable effort.
During my visit, i spoke with some of the students playing outside who told me that the principal promised to hand over the new classroom block to the Primary six (6) (Boys) when completed. He is presently in primary five (5) and is looking forward to moving to the new class (Primary 6), when completed.
After engaging with the people of Kufana, I went further to visit Kasuwan Magani Primary schools 1&2, Kujama town, Sabon Gari Afogo and Idon Gida 1. According to records received from UBEC, the sum of N6,192,083.00 (Six million, one hundred and ninety two thousand and eighty three naira) was awarded to Telmac Engineering Services for the Construction of 2 Classrooms. As at the time of my visit, the contractor was not on site and the project was not completed.
During an interesting conversation with the principal of L.G.E.A Primary School Idon Gida, he revealed that the work was executed by the former principal of the school (who was disengaged earlier by the Kaduna State Government EducationReforms). The acting principal confirmed that the contractor had paid the former principal to execute the job on his behalf, and even when he was leaving he handed over everything except the construction of the two classrooms. Further discussions with the acting principal and some class teachers revealed that the former principal had been using local materials from the school surroundings. Trees within the school compound that are supposed to provide sheds and cover were allegedly fallen and sawn into planks and roof rafters, sand and stones chippings were also allegedly gotten from the school site to mould mud blocks instead of procuring quality sandcrete cement blocks.
It is clearly seen in the image below that the lower part of the building was constructed with sandcrete blocks while the upper level was built with mud blocks. Unskilled laborers and sometimes students were allegedly used to carry out the construction works.
Consequently, it could be deduced from the above, that not all projects awarded to contractors are executed by the same contractors, there are different levels of illegal sub-contacts attached to the projects we monitor everyday. Whenever a project is awarded, executed or commissioned, what we see on paper is different from what we see on site. As a monitor, i get to see the other side of the story.
After my visit at Idon-Gida i moved on to Afogo. The renovation of 2 classrooms at Sabo Gari, Afogo, Kajuru LGA was awarded to JAK-KANA INTEGRATED CONCEPT LTD for the same sum of N6,192,083.00 (Six million, one hundred and ninety two thousand and eighty three naira) According to one of the school teachers:
“the dilapidated classroom was formally primary 2, due to lack of classes the primary 1 and 2 are now joined together. The issue has made some of the primary 2 pupils to stop attending classes”.
A proper needs assessment would have highlighted the urgent need to build more classrooms in the school in addition to renovations. It is the same lack of needs assessment that prompted the citing of a the Primary healthcare (Type 1) at Unguwar Waziri in Kudan LGA, Kaduna State very far away from the benefitting community causing them unnecessary transportation costs before getting medical attention. The humane impact that the PHCs contributes makes it vital in any community, hence the need for awarding agencies to block all loopholes that encourages corruption and other vices that hinder project completion.
My visit to these communities, has motivated and inspired me to engage the communities to request for accountability and to ask the questions we are afraid to ask.
- Was priority placed on carrying out a proper needs assessment?
- Is an in depth bid evaluation carried out before contract award?
- Who ensures that there are strict adherence to contract terms and conditions during execution?
These questions kept going through my mind as i reflected on my visit and the poor state of the facilities in those communities.
