The Jigawa State government, under the leadership of Governor Umar Namadi, spent N1.5 billion in three months on constructing and renovating mosques and other religious structures, according to the state’s budget performance report obtained on the state’s website.
The report, titled Jigawa State Third Quarter (July – September) 2024 Budget Performance, was published on the state government’s website. It revealed that N1,040,000,000 was allocated to the construction of mosques and religious structures in 2024, while an additional N458,470,310 was spent on completing ongoing projects in the same category.
Meanwhile, Jigawa State faces a significant educational crisis. Ranked fifth in Nigeria for the highest number of out-of-school children, the state has over 820,000 children aged 3 to 18 not enrolled in school, according to a survey conducted by the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN).
During a recent meeting with the Jigawa State House of Assembly in Kaduna, Mohammed Farah, Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, revealed that only 16.8% of children in the state are enrolled in school. He further disclosed that 44% of primary school-age children and 52% of secondary school-age children are out of school.
Farah emphasized the dire need to address these gaps, noting the low levels of foundational literacy and numeracy among the state’s children. He urged lawmakers to implement significant reforms before the next Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), scheduled for 2026/2027, to improve the state’s educational system and secure the fundamental right to basic education for its children.
