Former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has thrown his weight behind the education reform drive being championed by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, describing it as one of the most consequential national projects Nigeria has undertaken in recent years.

In a reflection following a national stakeholders meeting on the National Education Data Infrastructure held over the weekend, 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.

Chidoka said: “Roads can wait. Buildings can wait. Airports can wait. Education cannot.

“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.”

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 stakeholders meeting on the National Education Data Infrastructure, led by the 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 Nigerian Education Management Information System, designed by Ernst & Young, describing it as “a national treasure”.