Daud Olatunji
The World Bank’s latest report has criticised Nigeria’s public expenditure on education and health, deeming it woefully inadequate by any standard.
The report, titled ‘Human Capital Public Expenditure and Institutional Review,’ highlights significant financing and governance constraints affecting the delivery of basic education and primary health care in the country.
The report, obtained, reveals that Nigeria’s overall public spending stands at a mere 12 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), far below the necessary threshold to ensure fundamental public services.
This figure pales in comparison to the Sub-Saharan African average of 17.2 percent and the lower middle-income countries average of 18.5 percent.
According to the report, iver the past five years, Nigeria’s expenditure on health and education has fluctuated between 10 and 12 percent of GDP.
“When measured against international standards, it becomes evident that this level of investment is insufficient for delivering adequate essential public services.
“As a result, a large proportion of spending, especially health spending, is out of pocket, which excludes a significant segment of society from accessing health services,” the report states.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the reports shows that per capita, Nigeria spends $23 on education and $15 on health, figures that are alarmingly low.
It further revealed that of the $23 per capita expenditure on education, states contribute $14, with the federal government accounting for the remainder. Similarly, states spend $8.5 of the $15 per capita health expenditure.
The report submitted that the spending levels are particularly inadequate given the country’s urgent need to address issues such as high rates of out-of-school children and child mortality.
The World Bank attributes the low spending on health and education primarily to the overall low level of public spending, which is constrained by Nigeria’s very low overall revenue.
The reports read further that in 2021, allocations to education and health were just 10.1 percent and 6.6 percent of the overall budget (federal and state), respectively.
It continued reading that , the largest shares of the budget were allocated to General Public Services (24.2 percent) and Economic Affairs (18.4 percent).
It said debt charges within General Public Services accounted for 17.6 percent of the general government budget. Social sectors—including education, health, and social protection—received less than one-quarter of the national budget.
“State governments spend more on primary health and basic education than the federal government.
“ In absolute terms, states spent N1,299 billion on education and N731 billion on health, compared to federal spending of N773 billion and N610 billion, respectively. Consequently, education was the third-highest spending category for state governments, followed by health.”
The report recommends that in the medium to long term, increasing state budget execution rates and both federal and state allocations will be crucial for adequately financing health and education services.
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