GOVERNANCE, POLITICS
AND POLICIES
PAPER PRESENTATION BY DR. JOE ABAH
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, DAI
Annual Education Conference 2019:
Education for Sustainable Livelihoods:
A Systems Approach to Strengthening the
Sector for Productivity and Global
Competitiveness
PRESENTATION
OBJECTIVES
• To foster a shared understanding of the key
terms: Governance, Politics, Policies, Budgets.
• To examine the relationship between
governance and delivery of services in sectors
such as Education
• To enumerate binding constraints in the
Education sector
• To discuss recommendations for Education
reform initiatives
CONTEXT

86%

Half of Nigerian children of children in the lowest 10.5 million children

between the ages of 6 economic quintile cannot read are out of school
and 16 cannot read or do single-digit addition

Over 45% of Nigeria’s Our budgets fail to meet the In many states the average
population is aged 15 or 26% UNESCO recommendation ratio of pupils to qualified
below teachers is more than 100 to 1
Politics

• Politics is the activities through which one group

gains power and control over other groups, a
simple case of inclusion and exclusion.
• Too often, we obsess about which group has
power and control over the rest of us. We keep
changing the groups every 4 to 8 years but not
much actually changes on the ground.
Governance
• Governance, on the other hand, is HOW that power and
control is exercised for the benefit of all of us.
• This one, we often don’t care about. When we care at all, the
focus is almost always on the Federal Government. At State
level, the question is often only: “Is he paying salaries and
building roads?” Local Government doesn’t even feature.
• The mantra is often that we don’t need government. We just
need to get government out of the way, so we can do our
business and make money.
Why Governance Matters
• “Underlying the litany of Africa’s development problems is a crisis of
governance. Weak governance cannot readily support a dynamic economy
(World Bank).”
• “The issue of good governance and capacity building is what we believe lies
at the core of all of Africa’s problems." (Commission For Africa, 2005)
• “Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor in
eradicating poverty and promoting development.” (former UN SG, Kofi
Annan)
• “Development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which
has been missing in far too many places, for far too long.” (President
Obama, July 2009)
• “Of all the ills that kill the poor, none is as lethal as bad government.” (The
Economist)
Policies

• Policies set out what a government intends to achieve and how it

intends to act. In Nigeria, they often derive from Political
Statements. Developing responsive policies and strategies
supports the right of every child in Nigeria to quality education.
• Strategies describe the steps a government will use to implement
a policy that is already in place. Getting both right, therefore, is a
key step in improving the governance of a country.
• Policies should have clear goals & targets
• Policies should accurately reflect the aspirations of citizens
• They should be based on data, research and testing
Budgets

“The budget is the skeleton of the state

stripped of all misleading ideologies” –
Joseph Schumpeter
Human Resources

An efficient, engaged and resourceful public

service helps governments deliver better services
to citizens. This requires well understood
mandates, properly defined responsibilities of
Education ministries, departments and agencies,
and proper remuneration and equipping with
appropriate skills.
Data, Monitoring & Evaluation

“You are entitled to your opinion.

But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
- Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Binding Constraints facing in Education in Nigeria:
Symptoms

• Lack of Teachers
• Teacher Absenteeism
• Low Teacher Quality
• Lack of Access to Schools
• Lack of Gender Equity
• Inadequate Infrastructure
• Inadequate Materials
 Binding Constraints facing in Education in Nigeria:
Root Causes
• Insufficient budget allocation and release for • Inadequate regulation and oversight for
policy implementation Public & Private Schools
• Untimely release of funds for Policy • Weak community participation: SBMC, PTA
Implementation. • Proliferation of Education infrastructure
• Low interest in Policy implementation projects
• Misappropriation of funds • Ineffective monitoring and evaluation to
• Indifferent attitude of education operators ensure accountability
and community members • Inability to attract, retain & reward competent
• Policy inconsistency: personalization of staff
public office • Constitutional issues
• Unwieldy split in roles: federal & state • Non-implementation of recommendations &
• Lack of clarity in roles and responsibility White Papers
MY THEORY OF CHANGE
• IF teachers are recruited and trained effectively; learning materials are
accessible; school environments meet basic standards; and girls and
boys have adequate learning environments…
• IF governments make evidence-based policies, plans and budgets that
respond to the needs of pupils, teachers, schools; and plans and budgets
are implemented effectively and transparently…
• IF data and evidence is available and feeds into policy making; monitoring
and performance mechanisms are effectively embedded in state and non-
state institutions…
• THEN more children will have access to school, will learn better, and
develop into productive adults who can improve their economic
opportunities, with long lasting effects on their well-being and
livelihoods.
Some progress… towards
achieving the vision
Headlines of recent development in Kano, Kaduna,
Jigawa, Borno and Yobe States.

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 KANO KEY OUTCOMES
STATE  Training/Capacity building on Resource
Management completed for 120
Principals from selected Secondary
Schools across the state (by the
SERVICOM-Citizens Partnership in
Teacher Quality collaboration with other professional
groups).
 The Sum of N1.4m and a block of three
classrooms (Constituency Project)
FOCUS generated at Gama Community
AREAS fundraiser to improve learning outcomes
for 18, 765 students.
Teaching Classroom
Materials/Resour Congestion
 Construction of 8 blocks of Classrooms
ces by makers of Maltina.
 Cartons of chalk produced by SERVICOM
Citizens’ Partnership on education
distributed to 100 post- primaries.
 N13m from constituency projects for the
construction of one block of three
classrooms for 180
15 pupils at Government
KADUNA
KEY
STATE
OUTCOMES
Trained over 8,000 Teachers in
collaboration with TDP.

Trained 4,225 Head Teacher on all

6 Leadership aspects.
TEACHER
QUALITY Citizens’ platform now tracking
the budget and expenditure of
basic education in the state.

The State now has a

INTERVENTION comprehensive Corporate Plan for
Supported a series of the Education Sector that clarifies
Teachers Training in the mandate, defines functions for
Partnership with TDP to all departments and units, with
improve learning outcomes; clear establishment and workforce
and Policy development plans and standardized service to
(Teacher development & be offered16to citizens.
BORNO
STATE KEY
 SectorOUTCOMES
Student
Teacher Ratio planning Training
undertaking planning jointly
AREA with Adamawa State.
OF
FOCUS  The partnership generated an
Education needs assessment
Collaboration with other in selected communities
Stakeholders working in
Education (NENTAD
using the Intervention
Partners) Tracking Tool to support
advocacy to relevant MDAs
INTERVENTION for inputs into the 2019
Scooping study of the State budget.
Ministry of Education and
SUBEB conducted to
identify key governance
challenges to improvement 17
in Service delivery.
JIGAWA KEY
STATE OUTCOMES
 Recruitment of approximately
1000 Teachers in 2017,
additional 1,105 by 2018
including 5 disabled.
POOR
TEACHER  Renovation, procurement &
QUALITY distribution of 224 Motorcycles
for Schools’ Monitoring &
Supervision.

 Construction of additional 44
SSS, 12- JSS & 97 Primary
INTERVENTION Schools with priority given to
Development of an Action Rural Communities & Girls.
Plan & facilitated
implementation of actions  Development of draft Teacher
to address identified Recruitment & Deployment
blockages by relevant Policy.
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MDAs, SHoA, Media & the
YOBE
KEY
STATE
 PERL OUTCOMES
in collaboration with other
AREA development partners facilitated
OF institutionalization of medium-term
FOCUS
plans.

 Rehabilitated destroyed education

facilities in Gujiba, Gulani,
Collaboration with Kukareta, Geidam, etc.
Poor School other Stakeholders
Infrastructure & working in Education  Stepped up advocacy, including
Facilities. (NENTAD Partners) media programmes to magnify poor
access to education facilities
based on tracking across LGAs.
INTERVENTION
 Rehabilitated and supplied basic
Support discourse among
amenities to Murfa-Kalam Boarding
Stakeholders to advocate & Primary School in Damaturu LGA.
kickstart the Education in
Emergencies (EIE) Coordination  Provided school facilities in IPDs
cluster meeting. Camps based
19 on advocacy.
LESSON LEARNT

For Quality Education to be attained

and maintained, there must be
Sustainable Continuity in Teacher
Quality, Training and Development.
The hiring and promotion of these
must not be compromised, as this
will affect the goal of Quality
Education in Nigeria.

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Recommendations

1. At all levels, education sector reform priorities must

supersede partisan loyalties or preferences.
2. Stronger sanctions for mismanagement of educational
resources
3. Assist to set up an implementation framework with
monitoring mechanisms to ensure accountability.
4. Strengthening & implementing Policies, Action Plans &
Budgets for good Service delivery
5. The government should create enabling environment for
diverse and strong partnerships
QUESTIONS &
DISCUSSIONS

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