…Says ‘roads can wait, education cannot’

Former Minister of Aviation and ex Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Osita Chidoka, has thrown his weight behind the education reform drive being championed by Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, describing the ongoing National Education Data Infrastructure initiative as one of the most consequential national projects Nigeria has undertaken in recent years.

In a detailed reflection following the National Stakeholders Meeting on the National Education Data Infrastructure held on Thursday, Chidoka argued that while physical infrastructure projects could be delayed and still completed later, failures in education often permanently destroy the future of affected children.

“Roads can wait. Buildings can wait. Airports can wait. Education cannot,” Chidoka declared.

“The road we fail to build today can still be built tomorrow. The airport that was delayed this year may still serve future generations. But the child pushed out of school by policy failure is often lost forever,” he said.

According to him, every year lost deepens Nigeria’s education crisis, particularly for the country’s estimated 15 million out of school children.

“Every year, one of Nigeria’s roughly 15 million out of school children loses a narrow window that may never reopen. When reforms eventually come, they benefit a different cohort, not the child already left behind,” he stated.

Chidoka said the stakeholders meeting led by Alausa left a strong impression on him because of the depth and clarity of data now being deployed to drive policy decisions in the education sector.

“That is why yesterday’s National Stakeholders Meeting on the National Education Data Infrastructure, led by the Honourable Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, struck me as profoundly consequential,” he said.

“In many ways, it may become one of the most important national infrastructure projects Nigeria has undertaken in recent years.”

He praised the Nigeria Education Management Information System, designed by Ernst & Young, describing it as “a national treasure”.

“The Nigeria Education Management Information System, designed by Ernst & Young, the company that developed a similar system in India, is a national treasure, robust yet simple,” he wrote.

Chidoka disclosed that the platform already provides extensive data from across the country, covering school enrolment, infrastructure conditions and teacher student ratios.

“Data from all states were available on the portal, from school enrollment to the state of physical infrastructure to the student teacher ratio. A mind boggling quantum of data, made easy to understand, compare, and drive policy,” he stated.

The former minister said two revelations from the presentation particularly stood out to him.

“The first was the gap between primary school enrolment and junior secondary enrolment. The drop is so wide that I found myself asking the obvious question, what happened to those children?” he said.

“Where did they go between Primary Six and JSS One? A generation appears to thin out between those two rungs, and we owe ourselves an honest answer.”

He also pointed to data showing the growing pressure around university admissions through the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board system.

“The second was the composition of JAMB candidates, fresh entrants versus repeat candidates. The ratio revealed an admission bottleneck I had not fully grasped,” Chidoka said.

“Too many qualified young Nigerians are queuing behind the same narrow gate, year after year.”

The former aviation minister admitted that the evidence presented at the meeting changed his perspective on some of Alausa’s policy decisions.

“Suddenly, the Minister’s policy direction on easing admission bottlenecks, which I had instinctively questioned, began to make sense to me,” he said.

“That is the power of credible, real time data. It does not merely inform policy, it humbles assumptions.”

Chidoka further revealed that the Nigeria Research and Education Network, NgREN, where he is contributing, has committed to expanding digital connectivity to tertiary institutions this year and extending similar infrastructure to secondary schools by 2027.

“I am grateful to be contributing my own quota through the Nigeria Research and Education Network, NgREN. We have committed to delivering connectivity and digital services to tertiary institutions this year, and to extending similar infrastructure to secondary schools in 2027,” he said.

While noting that the reforms may not yet command widespread public attention, Chidoka insisted that a deeper transformation is quietly taking place within the education sector.

“What is happening in education may not yet dominate the headlines, but something important is taking shape quietly beneath the surface. Evidence is beginning to replace assertion. Data is starting to shape decisions,” he stated.

He concluded by challenging other sectors of government to embrace evidence based governance.

“The question on my mind, if evidence can transform education governance, when will the rest of the government follow?”