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NIGERIA’S NORTHERN GOVERNORS SPEND BILLIONS ON RELIGION AND WEDDINGS AS EDUCATION COLLAPSES

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  CapitalTimesNews / 1 month
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• 3 min read

An investigation into state budgets across northern Nigeria reveals a pattern of massive spending on religious activities, mass weddings, and opaque security votes while the region grapples with the world’s worst out-of-school children crisis. UNICEF data confirms Nigeria has 18.3 million out-of-school children, with 73% of this national disaster located in the Northwest and Northeast regions. In Kebbi State, Governor Nasir Idris approved a ten billion naira intervention for the State Pilgrims Welfare Agency on December 7, 2025, to secure 1,300 additional seats for the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage. This allocation consumes approximately 71.4% of the state’s internally generated revenue from the first nine months of 2025. Alhaji Faruku Aliyu-Yaro, Chairman of the Pilgrims Welfare Agency, praised the governor’s “foresight and support,” stating the move ensures Kebbi remains “the best state in preparation, operation, and conduct of the Hajj exercise across Nigeria.” Contrasting this expenditure, Kebbi’s budget allocated only 86 million naira to the Ministry of Water Resources for capital projects and two million naira for borehole construction. Meanwhile, the state suffers from devastating education statistics. Yobe State leads with 43% of children never attending school, followed by Zamfara at 41% and Sokoto at 37%. In Kano State, the 2025 budget includes 2.5 billion naira for quarterly mass weddings across 44 local government areas. Musa Shanono, the State Commissioner for Planning and Budget, detailed the allocation. The Hisbah Board, Kano’s sharia enforcement agency, plans weddings for at least 2,000 couples. Sheikh Mujahid Aminudeen, the Deputy Commander-General, said the program targets “vulnerable women, including widows, divorcees, and spinsters.” Kano’s budget also allocates 1 billion naira for Ramadan feeding and 955 million naira for surveys, including counting out-of-school children. Kano’s neighbor, Katsina State, budgeted 4.79 billion naira for its Ministry of Religious Affairs and 4.58 billion naira for its Pilgrims Welfare Board. The state also set aside 2.3 billion naira for Ramadan food. A review by Punch newspaper found over 16 billion naira approved for Ramadan palliatives across several northern states in a single cycle. A separate investigation by Saturday Punch uncovered that 14 northern states released 56 billion naira as security votes to their governors in the first nine months of 2025, with five states providing no disclosure. Borno State led, spending 32 billion naira of its 41.6 billion naira security vote budget. Transparency International describes such security votes as a “cancerous tumour in the state budget,” noting they are monthly cash payments with no oversight or requirement for public accounting. This spending occurs against a backdrop of severe insecurity and educational neglect. On November 21, 2025, 315 students and 13 teachers were kidnapped from a school in Niger State. Days earlier, 26 schoolgirls were abducted in Kebbi State. The National Bureau of Statistics reported a shocking 2.2 million Nigerians were kidnapped between May 2023 and May 2024, predominantly from the North. Federal allocations provide context. In July 2025, Kebbi State received 11.7 billion naira from the Federation Account, meaning its 10 billion naira Hajj spend represents 85% of its monthly federal share. Kano’s 8 billion naira Ramadan feeding is 32% of its July FAAC allocation. Jamilu Charanchi, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Groups, expressed frustration that insecurity persists despite huge security votes, suggesting banditry “has become an industry where many people benefit.” Cristian Munduate, UNICEF’s Representative in Nigeria, emphasized “It is our shared responsibility to keep our children safe in schools.” The investigation concludes that while states fund pilgrimage seats, mass weddings, and opaque security expenses, foundational sectors crumble. With 802 schools closed in the Northeast alone and classrooms destroyed, the choices documented in state budgets represent, as the report states, a moral failure where “the house is on fire” and “the budgets are getting scented candles.”