Kano allocates N2.5bn to complete 14 abandoned school projects

The Kano State Government has awarded N2.5bn contracts for the completion of 14 abandoned schools, including 13 related-education projects.

The projects, to be financed from the 2017 UBE matching grant, will provide additional 470 classrooms in the state, to provide learning space for about 30,000 fresh pupils.

The Director-General, Media and Publicity, Ameen Yassar, in a statement, said infrastructure in Kano schools was overstretched by the increasing intake of pupils, owing to the state’s large population.

The state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, stated this during a meeting with the contractors, adding that the government targeted high-quality infrastructure to cater for its teeming pupils.

Ganduje said, “All the contracts were reviewed to accommodate increment in the price of building materials over time. Sufficient financial provision has been made to absolve payment demands of the contractors. All contractors, having outstanding certificates, will be paid when they return to site.’’

Urging the contractors to handle the contracts awarded to them efficiently, the governor promised that his administration would continue to earmark funds monthly to settle the liabilities his administration inherited from past administrations.

In his remarks, Chairman, Kano State Universal Basic Education Board, Zakari Bagwai, said, “From 2016 to 2017, the pupil population in the state increased from 3,196,000 to about 4.4 million.

Credit: Punch