Nigeria’s education budget has surged to N3.52 trillion in 2025 under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, marking a dramatic increase from N1.54 trillion in 2023.
The jump reflects the government’s intensified focus on building a globally competitive and knowledge-driven population.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, speaking Tuesday in Abuja, warned that the growing number of out-of-school children constitutes a “national emergency” and called for urgent collaboration between government, private sector actors, and communities to tackle the crisis.
Represented by Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Special Adviser to the President on General Duties at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum, Shettima stressed that Nigeria has reached a critical point where traditional government-only funding models are insufficient.
“The burden cannot rest on government alone. We must enlist private sector actors, industry leaders, alumni networks, philanthropists, and communities to co-invest in laboratories, research centres, vocational hubs, innovation clusters, and endowment funds,” he said.
The forum, organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Federal Ministry of Education, and the Committee of States’ Commissioners of Education, focused on the theme: “Pathways to Sustainable Education Financing: Developing a Synergy Between Town and Gown in Nigeria.”
Shettima highlighted key funding milestones under Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda:
Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND): rose from N320.3 billion in 2023 to N683.4 billion in 2024, now at N1.6 trillion in 2025.
Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC): distributed N92.4 billion in matching grants to 25 states and the FCT; N19 billion supported teacher development across 32 states and FCT; N1.5 billion reached 1,147 communities.
Individual state grants increased from N1.3 billion to over N3.3 billion, enabling more than N6.6 billion in counterpart funding.
Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND): under the 2024 Student Loans Act, disbursed N86.3 billion to 450,000 students across 218 tertiary institutions.
“The Fund signals a new era where no Nigerian is denied tertiary education for lack of money,” Shettima said, adding that safe, well-equipped schools and properly trained, motivated teachers are critical to addressing the learning crisis.
He stressed the importance of multi-level collaboration, transparent utilisation of resources, and local responsibility for school infrastructure, security, and teacher welfare.
“Education is not just a line item in the national budget. It is the foundation of our national identity, the engine of economic transformation, and the shield of our collective security,” the Vice President said.
