Abuja: Nigeria’s education sector has received its biggest boost in history, with Vice‑President Kashim Shettima announcing that the 2025 budget has surged to ₦3.52 trillion, representing a 128% jump from ₦1.54 trillion in 2023 under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The announcement, made at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum in Abuja, marks a watershed moment in national policy.
The forum, convened by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Federal Ministry of Education, and the Committee of States’ Commissioners of Education, carried the theme: “Pathways to Sustainable Education Financing: Developing a Synergy Between Town and Gown in Nigeria.”
Shettima, represented by Dr. Aliyu Modibbo, Special Adviser to the President on General Duties, declared that the number of out‑of‑school children constitutes a national emergency, stressing that the Tinubu government’s unprecedented allocation reflects its “unwavering commitment to building an enlightened and globally competitive population.”
“Nothing threatens a civilisation more than an uneducated generation. Nations rise when the people, regardless of circumstance, are equipped with the knowledge to imagine a better future and the skills to build it,” Shettima said.
The breakdown of the boost includes ₦1.6 trillion allocated to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in 2025, up from ₦320.3 billion in 2023.
In addition, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) received ₦92.4 billion in grants distributed to 25 states and the FCT, while Teacher Development was pegged at ₦19 billion across 32 states and the FCT.
Similarly, ₦1.5 billion was allocated to Community Projects: reaching 1,147 communities, and State UBE Grants jumped from ₦1.3 billion to ₦3.3 billion, enabling states to access ₦6.6 billion in counterpart funding while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) gulped ₦86.3 billion disbursed to 450,000 students in 218 tertiary institutions nationwide.
Analysts posit that his record‑breaking allocation signals a new era in education financing, shifting from government‑only models to collaborative partnerships with private sector actors, alumni networks, philanthropists, and communities.
Shettima emphasized that education is not just a budget line item but “the foundation of our national identity, the engine of our economic transformation, and the shield of our collective security.”