Fashola Denies Stealing $90m World Bank Education Fund
Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos State, has denied stealing $90m loan meant for improving Education. The loan was given by the World Bank to improve the standard of Education and there have been allegations from some quarters that the State Government has mismanaged the funds.
Read the full details as reported by PunchNG below:
Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has defended allegations that the state mismanaged the $90m loan given to it by the World Bank for improving education standard.
He said the money was used for what it was meant, arguing that the state could give account of how the fund was utilised.
He said this during the launch of a book titled, ‘Lagos Eko Project 2009-2013: A legacy of Excellence’ on Tuesday in Lagos.
Before the launch, the governor inspected the agricultural projects embarked on by the Vetland Secondary School, Agege.
Fashola said those criticising the state needed to be well informed about the policies of government, noting that a committee was set up to monitor spending of the fund.
He said, “You might have heard some people saying that we have stolen World Bank Eko Project money. This occasion is indeed very important to prove that we did not. The Eko Project money is not in our hands, it is in the hands of the schools. The principals and the school don’t also act alone. They listen to a group, School Based Management Committee, before doing anything.
“It is a committee involving guardians, parents, teachers, and community members together planning what will be done in each budgetary year. So, no principal can spend money without the approval of the committee. Contrary to what the public commentator thinks; I think that if at all there was a fault, we can only take responsibility for not communicating enough.
“I will stand up to defend our principals and other public officers because it is an insult to their integrity and status. Every blessed day we account in public because we have nothing to hide from people who elected us. It is important to re-emphasise what realities of public school management are, so that those who want to comment about it will have a clear understanding of what they are commenting about.”
Fashola, who blamed growing population for overcrowding in Lagos schools, explained that qualitative teachers are provided to tutor the pupils.
He said, “When you are worried about how it should be about overcrowding, you should know that we run a free education here – from cradle to senior secondary school three. So, inexorably, we will have the largest pressure for people who are poor and are indigent who want to put their children to able education system. So when you see overcrowding, understand the context in which we deal.
“That the pressure is enormous and the population is growing. We have over one million pupils in our school system. So, this must be clear to those who want to engage in discussion and analysis. It is important also that as difficult as it may be, I can guarantee that even if the child was to learn under a tree, which is not our standard, the teacher that is instructing that child is a quality teacher.”
