A review of the Zamfara State budget performance document reveals that the state has allocated N19.3 billion to purchase kitchen and canteen equipment for the 2024 fiscal year. This expenditure is second only to the construction and provision of roads.
For the 2024 fiscal year, Zamfara State has allocated N8.4 billion for water facilities, N6.1 billion for public schools, and N8 billion for airports and aerodromes. The budget for hospitals and health centers is N1.7 billion. None of these expenditures come close to the N19.3 billion set aside for kitchen and canteen equipment.
At the ministerial level, the capital budget for the Ministry of Women and Social Development is N3.4 billion, while the Ministry of Health has a slightly higher allocation of N20.6 billion, just N1.3 billion more than the budget for kitchen equipment. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has a capital budget of N5.7 billion, significantly less than the kitchen equipment budget.
This budget allocation raises concerns given Zamfara’s high unemployment rate of 13.7% and an underemployment rate of 41.7%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ multidimensional poverty index. Additionally, 1.8 million people in Zamfara live in poverty, 44% of school-age children are not attending school, 79% of the population lacks access to sanitary facilities, and 51% lack access to clean drinking water, as reported by the NBS.
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