I drove taxi, delayed schooling to fund US education- Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has recounted his experiences as a taxi driver and taking up other jobs to finance his education in the United States. He said the experience has shaped his commitment to expanding educational opportunities for Nigerian children.

Tinubu shared the account in a post on his X handle on Wednesday. He said he postponed starting school for several months to save enough money, before eventually moving to Chicago, where he worked different jobs to pay his way through university.
“When I first arrived in the United States as a young man, I drove a taxi to earn money for my education. I even had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough,” he said.

The president said he understood the difficulties of paying tuition and accommodation while pursuing an education. He added that every Nigerian child deserved equal opportunities regardless of their background or their parents’ financial circumstances.
“The circumstances of a child’s birth should never determine the limits of their ambition,” he said.
He said education remained a major priority of his administration. He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), through which he said over ₦372 billion had been provided in student loans for institutional fees and upkeep.
Tinubu also disclosed that the government’s technical and vocational education programme had attracted more than 2.8 million applications, while 38 technical colleges had been rehabilitated. According to him, students in federal and selected state technical colleges now benefit from free school fees, boarding, textbooks and uniforms.

The president revealed his administration had reached a new agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that provides for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and measures to improve stability in the country’s universities. He added that the government was committed to ensuring that students completed their courses within the stipulated period.
“A four-year course must take four years,” he said.

While addressing medical education, Tinubu said the Federal Government was investing ₦110 billion in the rehabilitation of 24 medical schools as the annual nursing enrolment had increased from 28,000 to 115,000, while enrolment in medical and dental programmes had risen from 5,000 to 12,000.

“Nigeria needs more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and we must build the capacity to train them here at home,” he said.

The president added that over one million children who were previously out of school had returned to learning. He said his administration was also investing in teacher development, expanding educational opportunities for girls and implementing a new national curriculum that restores Nigerian history to classrooms.

Tinubu commended the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Education, Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, and the entire education team for their efforts in implementing the administration’s reforms.
He also urged Nigerians to explore the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative through an interactive A–Z platform developed by the education ministry as he believes it would provide information on government programmes and opportunities available to parents, students and teachers.

Tinubu also called on Nigerians to report challenges affecting education in their communities, saying feedback would help the government identify and address gaps in the sector.
“Your feedback will help us identify problems and address them,” he said.
“We have more work to do, and I am determined to see it through,” he added.