Sultan Maccido Institute at 14: Crumbling under scarcity of funds

Imam of the Holy Mosque of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdurrahman Ibn Abdulazeez-Sudais, on the 9th of November, 2001. Its curriculum is based on the National Policy on Education and has among its objectives to train students in the proper recitation and memorization of the Glorious Qur’an, to develop in the students the ability to harmonize […]

Imam of the Holy Mosque of Makkah, Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdurrahman Ibn Abdulazeez-Sudais, on the 9th of November, 2001.
 Its curriculum is based on the National Policy on Education and has among its objectives to train students in the proper recitation and memorization of the Glorious Qur’an, to develop in the students the ability to harmonize revealed knowledge and human science through the integration of Islamic and mundane science.
 Others are to develop in the students higher academic standards that will prepare them for high level of learning, to produce disciplined youth with a high spirit of responsibility through the inculcation of Islamic moral values as well as to give the students a broad-based training that will give them a wide range of choice of career and high education opportunities in the fields of science, humanities, arts and Islamic studies.
 Fourteen years after, Daily Trust has visited the institute and assessed the level of its development and or otherwise. Findings revealed that although the structures and teaching facilities are intact, there is need for the construction of more toilet facilities in the school.
Daily Trust also observed that, currently, government is undertaking some renovation works in the school.
It was further observed that before the appointment of the present director of the institute, funds meant for running the schools that largely come from either the school fees or government allocations, were being diverted into private accounts, leaving the institute with virtually nothing for its upkeep.
 According to a reliable source within the school, the money was being shared among key officers of the institution and some top ranking officers in the state’s ministry of education.
 One of the teachers in the institute alleged: “The director inherited a lot of problems which nearly grounded the institute. He met a lot of financial problems, ranging from non-remittance of school fees to the school account and acts of extortion by some teachers who collected money from students, promising them colourful results after their final year examinations.”
The teacher who sought for anonymity, said there was a time when over N500,000 was generated through this dubious action of some of the staff.
 “But when he (director) came on board, he stopped all these illegalities and put the staffers on their toes because he believes that students only fail their exams when their teachers are not doing the right things. And now our students are passing exams more than before and the school is fast regaining its lost standard and, at the same time, is generating a lot of revenue,” he said.
 According to him, in his first year, and after tackling the abnormalities in the school, the institution was able to generate over N90m as its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
 On the issue of increment of school fees, the teacher said it became necessary because the money for students feeding was no longer coming from the government, adding that it is the school that is now shouldering this responsibility.
 “We hope the government will reconsider this decision because this school cannot continue to feed its teeming students and, at the same time, take care of other academic needs,” he said.
 Another staff, who also craved for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to press, however, faulted the director of the institution for turning the school into a revenue generation center, rather than a center for imparting knowledge.
 He alleged that the director of the school put more emphasis on revenue generation than on improving the academic standard of the school.
He said that as an ex-banker, the director was running the institute like a banking industry and this, he observed, is detrimental to the progress of the institution as a place of learning.
He said: “He (director) concentrates more on generating revenue that is why he hiked school fees with over 150 percent. Before, indigenes of the state were paying N36, 000 but has now been increased to N100, 000. Students from other catchment areas, like, Zamfara, Kebbi, Niger and Kano states, were paying N66, 000 before, but it was jerked up to N120, 000 per student.
“The increment was condemned at the PTA meeting and leaders of the association had met and complained to Governor Wamakko over this increment. Some parents have even started removing their children because they could not afford the new school fees.”
He added that the  uncompromising attitude of the director makes the school to be losing its best staffers, including the Deputy Director, Academic, Malam Abdullahi Alhassan, who, he said, was a serious-minded academician.
When contacted, the Director, Alhaji Usman Jibrilla, dispelled all the allegations, describing them as “baseless, untrue and unfounded.”
The director who dared his critics to come out and defend their claims said: “What I am doing is implementing the policy of the state government and, on this, no compromise.
On the purported PTA meeting, the director said the school has no such association at present, not to talk of holding a meeting with management of the institute.
Continuing, he said: “I said it times without number that we don’t have such association in this school but I heard that some people met at the Islamic Education Trust (IET) centre that they were members of the Parent, Teachers Association (PTA) of this school. But this is not true, because we don’t have this kind of association and why did they meet in a place other than here if they are truly our PTA’s members?”
Jibrilla, however, directed our reporter to go to his superior officers and find out if he is running the school contrary to the mandate given to him.
Also, speaking to our reporter, the Commissioner for Education, Bello Yusuf Danchadi, said they were satisfied with the way the school is being run by the director, adding that there was no any report of misconduct against him “from our inspectors.”
He said that those making the allegations should petition the ministry if they have proof to back them.
Said the commissioner: “As far as we are concerned, we have no problem with Jibrilla and we are satisfied with the way he handles the affairs of the institute. As you can see, it is regaining its past glory.”