2025 budget: USOSA advocates enhanced education sector funding

As President Bola Tinubu prepares to present the 2025 budget, the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) is advocating for a significant boost in funding for the education sector.

USOSA President-General (PG), Michael Magaji gave the charge in an interview with The Guardian.

Nigeria has consistently fallen short of the UNESCO-recommended benchmark of allocating 15-20% of the national budget to education.

Instead, the country has historically allocated significantly less, such as the 7.9% allocated in the 2024 budget, highlighting a persistent gap in prioritizing education funding.

Speaking on the matter, Magaji admitted that although Nigeria has not yet reached the UNESCO-recommended 25% allocation of the budget to education, there has been steady growth in the education budget over the years.

He argued that education has consistently been a top priority for the government, ranking among the top five areas of focus out of numerous sectors.

“We have not met the UNESCO recommendation, which is about 25% to be given to education. However, progressively the budget for education has started to grow. Education has always featured in the top five priority areas for governments. I know this over the last few years. I am pretty sure of that. So top five out of 30, 40 other sectors is not bad at all.

“However, there is a need also to improve on that. Again, that is where we also as alumni put in our own small bit”, he said.

The President-General emphasized that funding education should not rely solely on government support, adding that alumni associations can play a vital role in supplementing government efforts, helping to create a more sustainable and robust education system.

“As alumni, we give back to our own schools. And we have said government can use alumni associations as a basis to improve funding.

“We don’t intend to replace government, but we are quite happy to support government.

“So I think there are areas of improvement, no doubt about it, but with the incorporation of key stakeholders, getting more people involved in funding education, looking at creative means of funding education to make it efficient, I think we should continuously explore. But no amount of funding is too much for education. Because without education as a country, we can’t go anywhere. So we keep appealing that funding should improve. But beyond the funding, the governance around managing the funds is also important,” he said.

He countered the notion that Unity Schools are no longer relevant, emphasizing that they play a vital role in fostering unity and providing top-notch education to students from diverse backgrounds, ultimately contributing to Nigeria’s growth and development.

The PG noted that the association was established 17 years ago to play a crucial role in the public education sector, aiming to make a positive impact and contribute to its growth and development.

The association, he said, cuts across the 115 Unity Schools with over one million members.