Nasarawa SUBEB Recovers Stolen Furniture

The Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board, NSUBEB, has launched a reform to tackle mismanagement in the state’s basic education system.
The launched has started yielding positive result with the recovery of stolen school furniture, leading to the redeployment of over 1,300 administrative staff to classrooms.
The Executive Chairman of the board, Kassim Muhammad-Kassim disclosed this during his maiden meeting with education secretaries from the 13 local government areas and 18 development areas in the state.
Muhammad-Kassim expressed concern over reports that chairs and desks meant for public school pupils had been illegally sold to private schools.
“Our students cannot be sitting on the floor while headmasters and education secretaries sell furniture we provided.
“I have visited schools and seen firsthand how children sit on floors, yet records show furniture was provided. I will not tolerate this under my administration.
“The Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of operations had been enlisted the to aid in identifying and retrieving the stolen furniture from private schools,” he said.
The chairman announced the creation of maintenance units in each local government to safeguard SUBEB assets, warned contractors against shoddy work, stating that payments would be withheld for any unsatisfactory projects.
“We cannot renovate a school this year and have the same structures renovated next year,” he said. “It indicates a problem in the initial contractor’s work. We will not pay contractors until we are satisfied with the quality.”
Muhammad-Kassim warned education secretaries against unauthorised salary deductions, instructing that “no deduction should occur unless approved on disciplinary grounds by the board”.
He also cautioned against the unauthorised sale or lease of school lands to small businesses, noting that several reports had emerged of school property being misappropriated for personal use.
Addressing teacher deployment, Muhammad-Kassim ordered the immediate redeployment of 1,300 administrative staff, out of the current 3,422, to return to classroom duties.
He cited the imbalance between administrative staff numbers and teacher shortages in rural areas.
“The Board will not tolerate a situation where there are numerous supervisors in urban areas while rural schools lack teachers,” he said. “The 1,300 redeployed teachers will be posted to rural schools,” he said.
The board chairman announced that Governor Abdullahi Sule had approved the hiring of 4,800 qualified teachers under a special rural-focused initiative tagged “Recruitment of Teachers in Rural Areas.”
He stated that successful candidates must be ready to serve in remote communities, making it clear that none of the new recruits will be posted to urban centres.
The measures, according to him, form part of a broader plan to revamp basic education in Nasarawa State and ensure equitable access to quality learning environments for all children, particularly in underserved rural areas.