Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, took center stage to defend the Tinubu administration’s approach to what many have described as a deepening crisis in Nigeria’s education sector. Against the backdrop of alarming statistics from the United Nations, Dr. Alausa emphasized the government’s urgent and strategic steps toward revamping basic and secondary education, particularly in the country’s most affected northern states.
“It is not just a constitutional right for every child in Nigeria to get education,” Dr. Alausa said, “it’s a fundamental human right. And that’s what President Bola Tinubu has vowed to protect and defend.” He stressed that President Tinubu has placed human capital development—anchored on education—at the heart of national transformation.
Nigeria currently accounts for 1.5 of the world’s out-of-school children, with about 10.5 million Nigerian children between ages 5 and 14 not attending school. In the northeast, particularly Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, more than 1,000 schools remain shut due to insecurity, while nearly 1,500 classrooms are reportedly damaged beyond repair. “That’s scary,” Dr. Alausa admitted. “But President Tinubu has done so much. The 2025 budget commits the highest amount ever allocated to education.”
Dr. Alausa defended the administration’s educational agenda by outlining the President’s six high-priority focal areas, one of which is data and digitalization. “Without data that is trustworthy and globally acceptable, we cannot plan or monitor interventions. That’s why we launched the Nigeria Education Data Initiative (NERDI). We’re now aggregating millions of live datasets from JAMB, WAEC, UBEC, NECO, and NYSC,” he explained.
Asked why it took nearly two years to produce actionable data, the Minister pointed to legacy problems. “We had data, but they were very disparate. In the last eight months, we’ve started aggregating those datasets,” he said. He added that by July, the Ministry would launch a live education dashboard to track every Nigerian child’s journey from early childhood to tertiary education.
Dr. Alausa confirmed that although they initially worked with the figure of 15 million out-of-school children, real-time monitoring is showing progress. “We’re not at 15 million anymore. Things are getting better,” he stated. “The problem is as we remove children from the street, new ones fall out. So we must be aggressive, decisive, and coordinated in our actions.”
A critical component of that coordination is the inter-ministerial committee now chaired by Dr. Alausa and his colleague, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs. “We’ve removed the silos. Every agency, from UBEC to the Nomadic Education Commission, Mass Literacy, and even the newly established Amajiri and Out-of-School Children Commission, now works in alignment,” he said.
Speaking about the Amajiri Commission, the Minister revealed that the law creating it allows for not just policymaking but implementation. “We’ve mapped all schools built for out-of-school children, and we’re rehabilitating them to move students in,” he added. “Before that, we piloted an advocacy model in the FCT. Within months, we returned 22,000 students to classrooms.”
The Minister emphasized the importance of advocacy in rural communities. “We went into homes and spoke directly to mothers about the importance of education. We’re now working with local leaders and women’s groups to build trust and shift attitudes,” he said.
Alausa further disclosed that school feeding programs will be expanded in 2025. “We’re working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. These meals aren’t just to attract children to schools—they’re designed to improve immunity, brain function, and reduce vulnerability to infections,” he said.
He insisted that the school feeding initiative is not just a plan on paper. “We have budgetary allocation in 2025 for it. This will not only increase attendance but also serve as a tracking mechanism. If a child misses lunch, we’ll know something’s wrong,” he said.
Another innovation is the proposed conditional cash transfer program. According to Dr. Alausa, “We are developing a model that rewards parents who send their children to school and meet minimum attendance thresholds. This will significantly improve enrollment and retention rates in rural communities.”
Addressing the larger systemic issues, Dr. Alausa lamented, “These problems didn’t start today. They’ve festered for decades while nobody intervened at scale. But under President Tinubu, we are building a sustainable base—not patchwork fixes. That’s why we’re optimistic.”
Despite these efforts, Arise TV anchor Charles Aniagolu asked why tangible results are not yet evident across board. Dr. Alausa responded, “Transforming an education system of over 70 million learners takes time. But look at the focus, the coordination, and most importantly, the political will. For the first time, the government is walking the talk.”
In conclusion, Dr. Alausa reassured Nigerians that things are changing for the better. “We may be the second highest today in out-of-school numbers, but not for long. Our children are our greatest asset. President Tinubu knows this, and he has made it clear—no Nigerian child should be left behind. We are building a future where every child’s education is guaranteed,” he declared.
