Niger State Uncovers 50 Ghost Schools

Governor Muazu Aliyu of Niger on Wednesday said the state government has discovered 50 ghost schools on the nominal roll of the state’s ministry of education.

The governor  who disclosed this before the weekly State Executive Council meeting at the Government House, Minna, lamented that the ghost schools were also discovered on the list of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB).

Mr. Aliyu noted that  the schools, which could not be located anywhere in the state, must have gulped  several millions of naira on monthly basis, as they have been used to siphon money from the state coffers, a situation he noted the state government was determined to tackle headlong

He said: ‘‘Imagine 50 ghost schools, at least in each of the schools, there would not have been less than 10 teachers on the payroll. That would amount to five hundred teachers; imaging the salaries and allowances of ghost teachers in such ghost schools, the amount would have been monumental”.

He also said that aside from the 50 ghost schools, 15 secondary schools in Mashegu Local Government Area of the state has only one Arabic teacher each, who teaches all the other subjects including Mathematics and English.