By Beatrice Gondyi
No fewer than 5,000 school buildings were razed across Borno State during the insurgency, Governor Babagana Zulum has said, revealing the full scale of the damage done to education in the state.
Speaking in Maiduguri on Sunday at the inauguration of a batch of newly completed projects, Zulum explained that the crisis did not only claim school infrastructure.
“The insurgency destroyed more than 5,000 school structures, while at its peak, an estimated 2.2 million children were out of school, with fewer than 500,000 enrolled,” he said.
The governor added that the system also lost the people needed to run it: “Many teachers and school administrators lost their lives in the course of duty.”
Zulum said his government’s response was never intended to stop at construction. “Rebuilding schools is beyond constructing physical structures. It is about restoring access to education, rebuilding confidence in our communities and providing our children with the opportunity to secure a better future,” he stated.
The projects inaugurated include two schools — Larawaram Community Senior Secondary School and Shehu Sanda Kyarimi I Primary and Junior Secondary School — as well as a nine-span flyover at the post office and the dualisation of a 2.5km road with five kilometres of drainage from Budum Tandari Junction to Kasuwan Shanu.
“Today, we have formally commissioned four important projects: the Larawaram Community Senior Secondary School; the Shehu Sanda Kyarimi I Primary and Junior Secondary School; the post office nine-span flyover; and the dualisation of the 2.5-kilometre road, together with five kilometres of drainage, from Budum Tandari Junction to Kasuwan Shanu,” he said.
Between the 2025 and 2026 fiscal years, the state invested N46,987,069,675.33 in basic and secondary education, according to the governor. He added that the ceremonies marked only a fraction of the work done.
“Today’s commissioning forms part of this broader investment, alongside 136 projects that have been completed and are awaiting commissioning,” Zulum said.
Figures released by the governor show measurable movement. Usable classrooms in public pre-primary and primary schools now number 5,792, while functional WASH facilities stand at 4,563. Senior secondary schools, which operated in just eight local government areas in 2019 with 34 schools, now serve 25 LGAs with 129 schools.
Enrolment has followed the same trajectory, climbing from 766,551 learners in 2019 to 1,801,295 this year — a gain of over one million children in seven years, which Zulum attributed to wider access, renewed community trust and consistent funding.
Discussion about this post