How Abandoned Project Halts El-Rufai’s Enrolment Drive in Kaduna School
The abandonment of renovation of a block of two classrooms inside Government Junior Secondary School, Kenyi Community in Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State is having a serious negative impact on the enrollment drive of Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s led administration, with training and assistance from the Public and Private Development Center (PPDC) we launched an investigation which revealed.
According to available information on the website of Kaduna State Public Procurement Agency (KADPPA), the renovation project was awarded in 2017 while the contractor reported at the project site on February 10, 2018.
With the hope to finish the work after stripping bare the structure, the contractor left the site on March 9, 2018 — dashing the hope of the students and their parents in this agrarian community.
A source within the school who requested anonymity hinted that the community had no prior knowledge of the project specification or supporting contract details because their correspondence has always been to Zonal Director for education overseeing the area.
The source added that enrolment has dropped from 500 students to about 350 between 2018 and 2021. Currently, the school cannot take more than 130 students yearly due to gross inadequate infrastructure facilities, he added.
These revelations have come about as a result of the monitoring activities of the Kaduna-based education procurement monitors who identified the project from EYE and EAR APP, which provides the education procurement monitors request for information concerning procurement from Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board (KADSUBEB) but later referred to Kaduna State Ministry of Education (SMoE).
However, the response from the SMoE to the information requested stated that the contract document could not be found in their office.
But, the difficulties in getting prompt feedback from procurement entities are no doubt frustrating and contributing to the failure of service delivered by the Government to its citizens.
It is pertinent to add that, Kaduna State has been a subscriber to a global accountability platform called Open Government Partnership (OGP) for a while now, the OGP requires that Government is transparent and accountable to the citizens while utilizing public funds, yet, public information is still difficult to assess in its ministries, departments, and agencies.
Written by Abdul Tashiu
Community Youth Volunteer Network Initiative.
