Gov Abdulrazaq Has Changed The Face Of Education In Kwara- Raheem Adaramaja
Professor Shehu Raheem Adaramaja is the Executive Chairman of Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KWSUBEB) and also the Dean, Forum of SUBEB Chairmen In Nigeria,
In this interview with Team@orientactualmags.com Professor Shehu Raheem Adaramaja submitted that the Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration met a dysfunctional educational system in 2019 and had since taken steps to rectify the situation and enhance qualitative education in the state.
He also talked about his challenging moments and other issues.
Read On:
As the Chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (KwSUBEB) which is tasked with overseeing basic education in Kwara State, what has been your experience?
Thank you very much. Talking about how far we have gone in Kwara SUBEB, the noticeable positive changes since the Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration came into being in 2019 are too obvious and can be seen by all.
We met a dilapidated physical infrastructure with lack of commitment on the part of the teachers because salary was not paid in full which was in common parlance called ‘geri gedi’, several years of promotion areas that were not implemented. Capacity building for teachers was zero, just to mention a few of some of the features of the sorry state of basic education in Kwara State before the birth of the current administration. It will also be recalled that the previous administration owed a lot of UBEC counterpart funds, not because they wanted to owe but it was because they diverted the 2013 fund they had collected and used it for other purposes rather that what the money was meant for. This led to a situation where UBEC had to blacklist Kwara State Government and Kwara SUBEB. That singular development hindered the growth and development of basic education in Kwara State. Of course, as at 2019, Kwara State was the 36th on the list when you talk about the ranking of performance of basic education across the states in Nigeria.
Things had since changed for the better, to the glory of God today, we have earned the 1st position and this top position was in recognition of our performance and investment in basic education. As we speak, the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration has invested billions of naira in basic education. You can see that there is no political ward or local government in the state that we have not gotten one project or the other done there, note that we have 193 political wards in the state. All these wards have had one form of physical infrastructure or the other.
I can also confirm to you that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has continued to prioritize the welfare of staff, especially the SUBEB workers.
We’ll be coming to that but the question is this; you said as at 2019, Kwara State was the 36th on the list with respect to the ranking of performance of basic education across the states in the country and that things had since changed for the better, will you say the representatives of Kwara State winning the national competition 3 years in a row is one of the results of the efforts to reposition basic education in the state?
I was actually trying to build a case when you asked that how has it been? Iam trying to build the case, then we will move gradually to that aspect. I want to tell you that if you allow me to go the stretch at the end of the day we will come back to where you mentioned. As I was saying, the investment of the Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration in basic education has contributed significantly to the improvement of the services Kwara SUBEB is providing for children in the state. Apart from the improvement of physical infrastructure, provision of classrooms, construction of digital literacy centers at 38 locations across the state, provision of furniture for pupils and students at junior secondary schools to enjoy an enabling learning environment, provision of WASH facility, which is Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, provision of toilets and boreholes across the 16 local governments, the state government has also invested heavily in the welfare of SUBEB workers through prompt payment of salary. Like I told you, what we met on ground was having teachers receiving ‘geri-gedi’ salary. So, that one has faded off. Our teachers now receive salary regularly and as and when due.
Promotions have also been very prompt and regular. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has cleared all the inherited promotion arrears and even approved and activated 2024 promotions for all the teachers. What I’m saying in essence is that in the 5 years of Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq administration, he has ensured 10 years of consistent promotion exercise from 2014 and 2017 till date for all the teachers.
You will see that this has boosted the morale of our teachers, capacity building, trainings are also being supported by the National Teachers Institute (NTI), Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Nigeria Educational Research Institute and of course, the National Institute for Educational Planning And Administration (NIEPA) in Ondo State.
We have had some of the training facilities for our teachers due to the improved relationship that our governor has established with all these agencies.
They are now more than willing to invest and collaborate with us by training our teachers. All these have culminated into improvement and enhancement of the services rendered by SUBEB to Kwarans. You will recall that since we came on board, from 2021 to date, Kwara State has consistently won the presidential school debate. It has never happened in the history of basic education in any state in the country.
Kwara State won the presidential school debate in 2021. The 2022 edition did not take place. We also won the 2023 and 2024 editions respectively. And Kwara State pupils represented Nigeria at the Dubai International Debate Championship in 2022. In 2023, after winning the November 2023 edition, the state represented Nigeria at the world school debate championship Junior Secondary Schools category that was held in Singapore in December that year where we met representatives from 76 other countries and we debated and proved ourselves. With this 2024 edition that the children just won, I mean the primary school edition, Kwara State has now qualified to represent Nigeria in another tournament coming up in Turkey this year 2025, by the grace of God. The state has also won the Queen of Mathematics Championship consistently, since 2021, coming first in North Central in 2021. 2022 we also came first in 2023. In 2024, at the National Championship that was held in Abuja, we took the 5th position, behind Lagos, Anambra and some other states. We were challenged and hopeful, we are full of hope that in the 2025 edition, Kwara State pupils would do more when they represent the state by the grace of God.
The establishment of Smart School is another thing that has brought Kwara State into limelight. Although all the 36 states of the federation have smart schools but only 17 of them are operative. Out of these 17, based on the assessment of immediate past executive secretary of UBEC, Dr. Ahmed Boboye and his team, after going round all the existing smart schools, he declared that Kwara Smart School located in Adeta, Ilorin is the best out of all the existing smart schools in the country. All these things did not happen through sheer luck but through the commitment and support that Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has given to basic education in the state. I can tell you that he is the ‘father’ of basic education in the history of Kwara State.
I can say without any fear of contradiction that in the history of Kwara State, the level of investment and attention that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has given to basic education since the inception of his administration in 2019, there is no governor since the establishment of the state in 1967 who has given that kind of attention to basic education. We give thanks to him and we pray that he continues to do more.
You have commended the governor and you have noted that his unflinching support has greatly helped KWSUBEB to get things done and make the agency’s name synonymous with outstanding achievements. You also made reference to motivation for workers will you say this has increased student enrollment in the state?
Yes, that is another component that we need to talk about. Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the New Globe. The New Globe is the architect of what we call ‘Kwara Learn’. They brought ‘Kwara Learn’ to Kwara State Basic Education. When the Memorandum of Understanding was signed, we agreed on the phased implementation of Kwara Learn which is a digital initiative basic education where teachers adopt technology system pattern that is different from the conventional ways of teaching in our schools. When the programme started, we agreed on phased implementation of the programme.
We started with 4 local governments including Baruten, Ilorin East and Offa , after 6 months, the programme was extended to another 6 local governments, making 10. And the 3rd phase eventually covered the remaining 6 local governments, making it 16 local governments. This Kwara Learn programme and the massive investment that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has made in basic education have helped us significantly to improve pupil enrolment. You’ll recall that before this administration came into being, our classrooms were dilapidated, the teachers were not committed. How do you expect them to be committed when they do not receive their salary? When promotions were not regular, so, with all that Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has done to correct the situation, parents now get encouraged to withdraw their children from where they were and bring them to public schools. The fact that Kwara Learn is doing very well has also encouraged a lot of parents to bring their pupil to public schools. In the first year of this programme, more than 40% of improvement of student enrollment in basic education was recorded. I can tell you that now we are within 65 and 66% . You can also see things for yourself , go to any of the schools you will see that the population in each of the schools will confirm that significant improvement has been recorded with respect to student enrolment. We thank our governor and, of course, our team in SUBEB and the Kwara Learn team.
There have been instances where an individual or a group of people especially members of the opposition will take to social media to say a school is still suffering from infrastructure deficit and post the picture. Is Kwara State Government not having enough resources to take care of all the schools at a go?
No. That’s not possible. Even Nigeria has no resources to cater for all the needed infrastructure projects and the needs of all the citizens at a go. It has to be done in phases. You see, what we did when we came on board was that the governor accessed the matching grants for 2014,2015,2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, six years matching grants. We were able to improve the physical infrastructure in 605 schools across the state without leaving out any of the 193 wards. Apart from that, accessing the 2020 matching grant added more to the numbers of physical infrastructure that were upgraded in basic schools in the state. So, it’s in phases. Now we are on 2021, 2022 and 2023 matching grants. In the implementation of that one, more classes, more schools were covered. Let me give you the statistics, there are 2,887 basic schools in the state. All these schools cannot be covered at a go. It has to be done in phases. Now, we are working on the 2024 matching grant . By the time the money, the process is approved, more schools will be covered. Those ones that have not been covered should be patient. We have a rolling plan. With that rolling plan, we pick base on needs assessment of communities and the schools. We pick the next schools to be upgraded in terms of physical facilities, provision of furniture, sanitation that is toilet. Remember that in the course of the safe school programme, we are also carrying out perimeter fencing of schools. This, we have done in several schools across the state.
A lot of these things are ongoing. Those ones that have not been captured, they should exercise patience.
As the chairman of KWSUBEB, what have been your challenging moments?
There has been a lot of challenging moments in the course of rendering services to Kwarans and Nigerians as a whole. I do join our officials in carrying out monitoring exercise and one of the challenging moments is that each time I move around and I found out that students are still learning outside under the tree, it usually becomes a source of worry for me and I will feel like I should do something immediately. But you have to follow the procedures. Running a government or running a basic school, especially public schools, is not a private kind of thing where you say ‘this is a dilapidated building, contractor go and fix it immediately’. No. You have to go through some process and that process can take some months. So, these are some of the challenging moments that I face.
The other one is that I always feel worried every month if by 24th or 25th, teachers are yet to receive salary for the month. That has always increased my blood pressure but to the glory of God, the governor has consistently been there for us and ensures that every 24th and 25th, the inflow that we need for payment of salary is made available.
A few months ago, you were excited and very happy and when people asked why you were in such a happy mood, it was discovered that the governor had just approved promotions for the SUBEB workers. Why were you that excited?
Yes. It has to be like that because we need these teachers to run basic education and we need to prioritize their welfare. It is only when they are happy that the system will move. When they have their salary paid promptly, when they have their promotions regularly, when they undergo training regularly, when they have the needed amenities they will definitely give their best.
No administration will owe salary, withhold promotions and expect commitment and dedication to duties on the part of the teachers, there is no way you can force them to the classroom to teach. But when all these welfare packages are made available to them, they will put their best in every way.
You have access to the governor; you must have had private moments with him. Has he told you reasons why he has shown commitment to improving basic education in the state?
The secret behind it is that for basic education to be successfully run and implemented in any state of the federation, there should not be a third party between the chief executive of the state and the chairman of SUBEB. You must have that direct link to express yourself and tell the governor of the state ‘this is what we need, this is how we need to do this’…
Are you happy that the governor has ensured that he is approachable?
There is no third party between us.
Are you happy about this?
Of course, I should be happy and very happy. Iam very happy and elated. That’s why we are seeing the good performance. That’s why we are winning laurels, that’s why we’re performing.
You mean the governor should get the credit for the achievements?
I’ve said it earlier and I still want to restate it that there cannot be a SUBEB without the governor. The support needed from the governor is 100%. I can wake up in the middle of the night and say ‘I want to do this. Mr. Governor sir, let us do this’, if one has to go through a third party, one will find it difficult to relate directly with the Executive Governor who is expected to provide the needed guidance and support.
So, the governor should rightly get the credit for the achievements and accomplishments of the agency. Iam grateful to him.
You have been reappointed as KWSUBEB Chairman, what should we expect from you?
‘I remain committed to improving Basic Education in Kwara State. I am deeply grateful to His Excellency, Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON & Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, for the opportunity to get a fresh term as Chairman of the Kwara State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).
I appreciate the governor’s confidence in my ability to lead the board and drive positive change in the education sector. His unwavering support and commitment to basic education in Kwara State have been instrumental in our achievements so far.
Like I asserted earlier, Governor Abdulrahaman AbdulRazaq’s investment in basic education is unprecedented in the history of Kwara State, and we are proud to be part of this transformative journey.
As I embark on this new term, I promise to justify the confidence reposed in me by working tirelessly to improve the standard of basic education in Kwara State. We will continue to prioritize investments in school infrastructure, teacher training, and innovative programmes that enhance learning outcomes.
I am happy to lead a team that is passionate about education and committed to making a positive impact on the lives of our children. Together, we will strive to create a world-class basic education system that prepares our pupils/ students for success in an increasingly complex and competitive world.
Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to Governor Abdulrahaman AbdulRazaq CON for this opportunity and to the good people of Kwara State for their continued support-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
