Zamfara State Government is to establish a law compelling all its contractors to give two per cent of their contract sum in order to boost the education sector.
Governor Abdulaziz Yari said this on Wednesday while receiving individual reports on education from all the emirate councils in the state, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
He explained that already, he had sent a bill to the state house of assembly requesting the legislators to review the law on the deductions from one per cent to two per cent as mandatory tax deductions from state government contracts, which would be added to education development in the state.
The governor, who set up the emirates’ education committees three weeks ago, noted that the state government could not handle educational development in the state alone.
Yari said with contributions received from contracts and other sources, it would allow the state government service other sectors such as healthcare, road construction, improvement of social welfare and provision of good drinking water.
He said from the reports submitted, the state government was now saddled with the responsibility of educating a total of 548,000 primary school aged children.
“So, we will have to review this year’s budgetary allocation to the education sector to about N5 billion, including collections from the Universal Basic Education Commission, in order to meet the target,” he said.
Yari said that various projects were currently ongoing under the Ministry of Education as well as that of science and technology, such as the building of staff quarters, expansion of schools and provision of furniture and learning materials.
The governor, who also set up a nine-man committee headed by Prof. Abdullahi Shinkafi, urged the committee to compile a summary of all the emirates’ submissions within three days in order to allow the state government start execution.
He also warned contractors handling projects under the sector to speed up and finish the projects or face the consequences.
He gave the contractors the next 30 days within which to finish their projects or have the projects transferred to more competent contractors.
Yari said that the state government had paid up all its contractual obligations, adding that funds meant for the payment of on-going projects had been in the state government coffers for the last seven months.
He said “anyone who completes his work, will be paid immediately.”
NAN reports that the concern of the governor on the development of the education sector had led to the setting up of a high-powered committee in 2011 to assess the problems of primary education.
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