Previous attempts
The
lack of knowledge of educational expenditures in Nigeria is not a recent
phenomenon. The last detailed and comprehensive effort to describe the
situation was made in 1965, utilizing data up to 1962 (Callaway and Musone,
1965). Among the central findings was that in 1962:
(a)
Total expenditures on education by all
governments combined were equal to 3.5 percent of GDP and 15.2 percent of
total government expenditure.
(b)
Education expenditures were equal to
15 percent of total Federal expenditures and 21 percent, 27 percent and 29
percent of the total expenditures of the Northern, Eastern and Western Regional
Governments respectively.
(c)
50 percent of total public
expenditures on education were allocated to primary education, 31 percent to
secondary and 19 percent to tertiary, including for
overseas study.
This
set of information was updated for 1966 but since then very few, and only very
partial, estimates have been made. An attempt to calculate the cost of primary
schooling was made in 1982 but using enrolment data and only a single estimate
of unit costs (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1982). For 1985, education
expenditures were surveyed across 15 state governments (Hinchliffe 1989). The
results demonstrated large regional variations. While the share of education
expenditure in total state government expenditure averaged 40 percent, ranging
between 23 and 57 percent, for seven northern states the share averaged 32
percent and for eight southern states, 47 percent. In 1987, evidence was
collected from 11 states on the financing arrangements for primary schooling
(Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1987). The results showed enormous differences
between states in the way in which local governments, state governments and
parents were involved. In 1992, case studies of expenditure in just three
states were undertaken by the World Bank. In Kano, the share of education in
total state government expenditure had fallen from 32 percent in 1987 to 21
percent in 1991, partly though not only, as a result of virtually all of the
cost of primary education being moved to local authorities in the latter year.
In Plateau state, in 1991, educational expenditure was around 16-17 percent of total
government expenditures and falling. In Imo state, the share for education in
that year was 31.5 percent, and rising. Overall, the case studies again
demonstrated significant divergences across states in expenditure levels and
distributions.
The examples described above demonstrate that,
over time, the attempts, which have been made to understand the characteristics
of education expenditure in Nigeria, have become increasingly partial.