Barely months after a series of investigations exposed severe teacher shortages, dilapidated infrastructure, and poor learning conditions in public schools across Yobe State, the state government has commenced plans to establish a new flagship tertiary institution, the Mai Mala Buni College of Integrated Sciences.
The move has reignited debate over whether scarce public resources should first be directed toward rehabilitating existing public schools before embarking on new education projects.
The development follows an inspection visit by members of the committee established to oversee the creation of the proposed college.
According to a statement shared by Sheriff Almuhajir, Managing Director of the Yobe State Microfinance Bank and a government ally, the committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Professor Abba Idris Adam, visited the proposed project site to assess its suitability ahead of construction.
The committee examined the site’s topography, accessibility, utility services and other requirements, with the government saying the institution is being designed to meet global standards.
The proposed college is expected to feature modern classrooms, science laboratories, ICT facilities, boarding accommodation and other infrastructure intended to provide integrated education.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of investigations by Maidawa Arewa Media, which documented widespread challenges affecting public schools across the state despite years of government investment.
One investigation published in December 2025 found pupils at Bukar Ali Ibn El-Kanemi Primary and Secondary School in Damaturu sitting on bare floors because of a lack of desks and chairs, despite more than ₦12 billion allocated to education in the state’s 2025 budget and over ₦1.6 billion raised through the Yobe Education Appeal Fund.
A follow-up investigation published three months later found that the conditions remained largely unchanged as schools resumed for a new academic term.
The report documented classrooms without furniture, damaged ceilings, broken windows, inadequate learning materials and a shortage of qualified teachers.
In another investigation conducted across communities in Nangere Local Government Area, Maidawa Arewa Media found schools being operated by a single teacher responsible for multiple classes and subjects.
The investigation reported that despite more than ₦180 billion allocated to education between 2019 and 2025, some rural schools continued to struggle with inadequate manpower, deteriorating infrastructure and poor learning conditions.
Parents, traditional leaders and education stakeholders interviewed during the investigations repeatedly urged the government to prioritise recruiting teachers, improving their welfare and rehabilitating existing schools before initiating new projects.
One community leader had remarked that the true condition of education in Yobe could only be understood by visiting rural communities rather than schools in urban centres.
Following the publication of the investigations, the Yobe State Government announced a policy banning the transfer of teachers from classrooms to non-teaching Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), a move widely seen as an effort to address teacher shortages across public schools.
However, many of the infrastructural and manpower challenges identified in the investigations remain unresolved.
The latest proposal to establish the Mai Mala Buni College of Integrated Sciences has therefore generated fresh discussion among education stakeholders, who say strengthening existing schools should remain a central priority.
They argue that while investing in new institutions could expand educational opportunities, addressing long-standing deficiencies in primary and secondary schools would have a more immediate impact on thousands of pupils currently learning under difficult conditions.
The Yobe State Government has not disclosed the estimated cost of constructing the proposed college.
Maidawa Arewa Media made repeated efforts to obtain the government’s position on how the new project would align with ongoing efforts to address challenges in existing schools.
Telephone calls placed to the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Professor Abba Idris Adam, were not answered. A WhatsApp message sent to him was delivered shortly after it was sent but had not been responded to more than 24 hours later. Two additional telephone calls made before publication also went unanswered.
While the government says the proposed college forms part of its broader education transformation agenda, education advocates maintain that the success of any new flagship institution will ultimately be judged alongside measurable improvements in the quality of teaching, infrastructure and learning conditions across the state’s existing public schools.
