The US Agency for International Development in Nigeria said on Thursday that it would invest $100 million in the education sector of the country.
Jill Jupiter-Jones, Team Leader, Education, for the organisation, made the plan known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
USAID is the US Government international organisation providing economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world.
Jupiter-Jones said the money would be allocated to five North-Western states of Nigeria, namely Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto States, to boost education in those states.
According to her, the focus is on the northern part of the country because the rate of education in the area is the lowest in Nigeria, particularly the issue of girl-child education
Jupiter-Jones added that the project would be carried out in collaboration with some development partners such as UNICEF, Japan International Corporation Agency and Britain’s Department for International Development.
She said: “We are designing projects in five states in Nigeria: Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Sokoto and Katsina, through the Global Partnership for Education.
“N100 million will be divided amongst these states to carry out a lot of activities that would improve the educational sector of the country.
“We will invest money into these states to fill in gaps that state governments cannot fill.
“We are working together with JICA, UNICEF and DFID.”
Jupiter-Jones said the application process for the fund would be ready by mid-September and that the funds would be released in 2014.
She noted that USAID also monitored the flow of funds from the Federal Government to states through its State Education Council to ensure adequate utilisation of the grant.
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