Institutions in northern Nigeria received 55.35 per cent of the ₦38.93bn disbursed to 166 public tertiary institutions under the Needs Assessment Revitalisation Fund, an analysis of the disbursement figures has shown.
The Federal Government said the money was released to close infrastructure gaps and improve teaching and learning facilities in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The analysis covers 79 universities, 46 polytechnics and 41 colleges of education. Northern institutions got a combined ₦21.55bn, while their southern counterparts got ₦17.38bn. That puts the North’s share at 55.35 per cent and the South’s at 44.65 per cent.
Origin of the fund
The fund grew out of Federal Government efforts to tackle the poor state of public university infrastructure. It is traced to a 2009 agreement between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which included commitments on funding and facilities.
In 2012, the government carried out a needs assessment of public universities to identify infrastructure gaps and the requirements of each institution. It then pledged ₦1.3tn for public universities between 2013 and 2018, to be released in ₦220bn tranches. Only the first tranche was substantially released at the time.
The latest schedule is wider in scope, as it includes polytechnics and colleges of education, with 166 beneficiaries nationwide.
Zonal breakdown
The North West got the highest amount among the six geopolitical zones, with ₦8.15bn for 40 institutions, or 20.93 per cent of the total.
The North Central followed with ₦7.04bn for 31 institutions (18.09 per cent), while the North East got ₦6.36bn for 29 institutions (16.33 per cent).
In the South, the South West received ₦6.77bn for 25 institutions (17.39 per cent). The South East got ₦5.39bn for 21 institutions (13.84 per cent), while the South South had the lowest among the zones with ₦5.23bn for 20 institutions (13.42 per cent).
The three northern zones account for 100 of the 166 beneficiaries, about 60.2 per cent, while the southern zones account for the remaining 66, or 39.8 per cent.
State-by-state
Kaduna State got the highest amount, about ₦2.44bn for eight institutions, or 6.26 per cent of the total. Kano followed with ₦1.86bn for nine institutions, while Kwara got ₦1.71bn for seven.
Others in the top bracket include:
- Ogun: ₦1.58bn (six institutions)
- Adamawa: ₦1.57bn (six)
- Anambra: ₦1.50bn (five)
- Rivers: ₦1.49bn (five)
- Enugu: ₦1.46bn (five)
- Niger: ₦1.45bn (five)
- Osun: ₦1.43bn (five)
- Imo: ₦1.39bn (four)
- Bauchi: ₦1.37bn (five)
- Edo: ₦1.37bn (three)
- Cross River: ₦1.36bn (three)
- Borno: ₦1.36bn (five)
- Plateau: ₦1.35bn (five)
- Ondo: ₦1.29bn (six)
- Sokoto: ₦1.20bn (four)
- Oyo: ₦1.10bn (two)
States and territories that got less than ₦1bn include:
- Yobe: ₦858.45m (five)
- FCT: ₦814.61m (two)
- Kebbi: ₦753.99m (five)
- Nasarawa: ₦739.53m (five)
- Lagos: ₦732.21m (three)
- Katsina: ₦721.62m (five)
- Kogi: ₦673.57m (five)
- Ebonyi: ₦669.26m (four)
- Ekiti: ₦635.34m (three)
- Gombe: ₦632.35m (three)
- Zamfara: ₦593.09m (five)
- Jigawa: ₦580.44m (four)
- Taraba: ₦559.10m (five)
At the bottom of the table, Akwa Ibom got ₦413.15m for three institutions, Abia ₦364.49m for three, and Bayelsa ₦350.39m for four. Benue got ₦302.09m for two institutions, while Delta got the least, ₦239.67m for its two beneficiaries.
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