The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has commenced a 2-day meeting of UBEC management with Zonal directors, officers in the directorate cadre and state coordinators on strengthening zonal and state offices for improved efficiency and productivity.
It was held at the UBEC Digital Resource Centre (DRC), Abuja, On 25th And 26th September, 2024.
Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi in his keynote address informed that the meeting would provide opportunity to bring them up-to-date with the present administration’s expectation from all government agencies.
“I am glad that after series of deliberations that took us to Lafia, Nasarawa State, Kaduna, Kaduna State and Ibadan, Oyo State, we have finally produced something we can present to you to adopt for implementation.
“… basic education implementation is taking place in the States and by the States. The Commission’s major roles in the UBE implementation process include the regulation and coordination of the programme implementation”, he said.
Bobboyi lamented that the Zonal and State Offices of the Commission were becoming incapacitated. The functions of the field offices were gradually usurped and concentrated in Headquarters.
“For example, the Headquarters became comfortable sending staff members from Abuja to the fields to perform assignments that the Zonal and State Offices were established to perform. It got to a level that staff members sent from Headquarters to the States will not bother to visit the Zonal and State offices to announce their presence in the States.
“The Commission’s Departments will implement activities in the States without the knowledge and participation of the UBEC State Offices. Project and other monitoring activities, which are among the Commission’s major functions also suffered.
“The staff members in the Headquarters were known to engage their colleagues in the field offices to monitor projects and activities for which they were fully paid to perform. This led to the submission of inaccurate reports which resulted in payments being made for shoddy jobs and uncompleted projects”, the UBEC helmsman stated.
He added that the effects of the negative developments did not only rub off on the degree of the efficiency and image of the Commission as a whole, it promoted redundancy and absenteeism among the staff members in the field offices.
According to him, it was these developments that triggered the decision of the Management to review its implementation structure, arriving at the critical decision that some reorganisation was necessary and urgent and that one of the key areas that should receive immediate attention was the strengthening of the Zonal and State Offices and empowering them to perform the functions assigned to them when they were established.
“It is necessary at this juncture to emphasise that there is only one Commission with Departments, Units and field offices created to work together towards facilitating the achievement of its mandates. It will amount to waste of resources if, for whatever reasons, these departments, units and field offices are not working together in harmony with our eyes focused on the set goal of the Commission.
“Your presence at this meeting is, therefore, to deliberate on the guidelines and strategies we have developed to assist in turning things around in the Zonal and State offices. I look forward to your active involvement and participation in the meeting, frankly sharing your experience as field officers and suggesting what other steps we can take to make the reorganisation effective.
“I assure you all of Management support in the areas of staffing and staff training, provision of working tools, decent office accommodation, funding, transportation, and others which we are aware are essential for productive work. However, because of the quantum of resources required to put these in place, their implementation will be phased”, he said.
