Should the inability of a government to design efficient business models for essential public services an excuse for privatization of these services?
If what’s been brewing in the Nigerian education sector is allowed to manifest, Nigerians will wake one day to read in the newspapers that the feds have privatized all federally-funded high (secondary) schools.
The Nigerian education ministry claims that it “spends an inordinate amount of time and resources on Federally-funded secondary schools that constitute only 3% of the secondary schools in the country,” and cannot “justify the disproportionate amount of staff and budget allocated to these schools.” And the best way to “reverse” this trend is privatize the 102 federal high schools.
There are certain services – such as public health, state security and education – that a government can’t afford to pass-on to private investors completely because they are essential and critical to maintaining the socioeconomic and political integrity of the nation. As this survey shows, only about 6 out of 10 Nigerian children attend primary schools and about 4 in 10 attend secondary schools.
“Today, there is a private primary or secondary school on almost every street corner. The erstwhile public schools have become deprived of books, desks, teaching aids, roofs, and able and qualified teaching staff, who, where available, are not only underpaid, but also often receive their salaries many months in arrears! Our government funded secondary and primary schools have now become trading places for teachers and breeding grounds for area boys, child prostitutes and street hawkers.” social commentator, Les Leba
Several public enterprise in Nigeria have been sold to private investors since the inception of President Obasanjo’s administration in 1999 because of one major reason: they have become grossly inefficient despite their huge capital overhead. And I’m fine with this.
However, Nigeria is a country where basic social services are limited or even non-existent in some areas. So it’s a big deal when the government pushes under-performing public institutions, particularly those that offer essential social services like education into private hands simply because of the “inordinate amount of time and resources” spent on them. To me, this is a clear indication that Nigerian government cares less about the people it serves, especially the multitude that can’t afford the hefty price tags of private schools.
When has governance/government turned into a strictly money-making venture?
While it may be appropriate, in some instances, to apply private sector business principles and models, the reform-hawks running the show in Nigeria should know that the fabric of the public safety-net needs more than mere maintenance; it must be overhauled and strengthened. After eight years in office, there hasn’t been a clear indication that President Obasanjo and his advisors really understand this simple need and that privatization has several undesirable impact and not a silver bullet!
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