The amount was contained in a UBEC document. In only two years, the administrations of Kaduna, Anambra, Plateau, Abia, and Niger states fired 9,392 teachers.

The state administrations had rationalized the firing of the instructors by arguing that they lacked the required credentials.

The 36 states and the FCT got N228, 628,497.42 each between 2009 and 2010, and N290 million each for the 2011–2012 session, according to the UBEC document. Each of the 36 states and the FCT received N331 million for the 2013–2014 academic year; N290 million for the 2015–2016 academic year; and N404 million for the 2017–2018 academic year.

The document was the commission’s most recent publication as of 2022, even though it had not been made accessible for the 2019–2020 fiscal year.

According to The PUNCH, the Federal Ministry of Education noted that one of the factors preventing the achievement of the national targets and the full realization of the Sustainable Development Goals is the low quality of teachers, who in general cannot implement the national curriculum.

Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, the Programme Director for Reform Education Nigeria, emphasized the necessity for state governments to fund teacher training in an interview with The PUNCH.

Oluwatoyin said “At some point, the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria noted that about 50 percent of teachers are not qualified. This shows in the poor quality of students that we get from basic schools. Now for the common entrance conducted by the National Examination Council, about 15 students scored zero.

“This does not look very well. Teachers need to be equipped. Teachers need to be trained. These funds should go into use.”