Get Guardian on GooglePresident Bola Tinubu has shared one of his experiences in the United States on how he worked as a taxi driver to fund his education in the country, saying that it was one of the major reasons for the creation of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
In a post on his X handle yesterday, Tinubu noted that his personal experiences influenced his commitment to expanding educational opportunities for Nigerian children.
The president said that every Nigerian child deserved equal opportunities regardless of their background or their parents’ financial circumstances, adding that he understood the difficulties of paying tuition and accommodation while pursuing an education.
Tinubu said he had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough money before
eventually moving to Chicago, where he did different jobs to pay his way through university.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council has said the education reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration have expanded access to education, improved teachers’ welfare and strengthened the delivery of learning across the country.
The council cited the disbursement of N372.62 billion in student loans, the enrolment of more than 156,000 beneficiaries in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme, and the return of over one million out-of-school children to classrooms as some of the major achievements recorded under the administration.
It also said the Federal Government had secured $552 million for basic education interventions, rehabilitated technical colleges and taken steps to stabilise the academic calendar in tertiary institutions.
The council’s position was contained in a statement issued yesterday by its spokesperson, Dele Alake, which highlighted the achievements of the administration in the education sector.
According to the statement, the interventions were captured in the Federal Ministry of Education’s Nigerian Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) 2026 report.
It said the reforms covered basic and secondary education, technical and vocational training, and tertiary education, with particular attention to six priority areas: technical and vocational education, science and medical sciences, out-of-school children, girl-child education, digitalisation and education quality assurance.
It also disclosed that the National Learning Assessment had been restored to monitor pupils’ performance and identify learning gaps.
Under the EduRevamp initiative, 53,553 teachers have registered, while 51,794 joined the first cohort of the Accelerated Teacher Professionalisation Pathway (ATPP), a six-month programme designed to provide professional qualifications, certification and licensing.
The programme, backed by N2 billion, is targeting 250,000 teachers by 2027.
