State Funding of Public Institutions in Nigeria: Control Mechanisms and Legal Challenges (Schools and Hospitals)

State funding of public institutions in Nigeria, the control mechanisms and legal challenges forms the basis for this discussion. Attention of the paper is on education and health or schools and hospitals. State funding of public institutions such as schools and hospitals is very crucial for the development of any nation. The wealth of any nation is measured by how healthy the citizens are and human capital development is measured also by the quality of education the masses are receiving. Where these crucial institutions are not adequately funded, such a nation is bound to be in crises. It is in this light that the paper examines the sources of funding, the control mechanisms and the legal challenges. The paper finds that funding comes largely from the annual budget of government. There are other sources such as contribution from international donors and contributory schemes in forms of insurance from workers. The paper notes that Audit is an effective control mechanism and examines the effectiveness of the Supreme Audit Institutions in Nigeria. It also identifies the role of the Public Account Committee in ensuring transparency and accountability in public expenditure. The paper further discusses the challenges and notes that low budgetary allocation, lack of due process in public procurement, corruption, weak institutions, unstable economic policies and lack of effective political and democratic environment contributes to poor funding of public institutions. The paper also notes that the non justiceability of right to education and health is not healthy for Nigeria. Based on the findings, the paper recommends among others that government should increase budgetary allocation to the sectors to meet the AU and UNESCO standards and move the right to education and health to chapter IV of the Constitution as it would enable citizens hold government accountable.