………..VP Shettima says out-of-school children pose national emergency, calls for private sector co-investment.
Nigeria’s education budget has jumped to ₦3.52 trillion in 2025 under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, which is a significant increase from ₦1.54 trillion in 2023.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who stated this in Tuesday in Abuja, said that the number of out-of-school children in the country constitutes a national emergency, calling for collaboration between government and private sector stakeholders to address the problem.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum in Abuja, VP Shettima noted that education spending under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reflects the administration’s unwavering commitment to building an enlightened and globally competitive population.
The forum, organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, the Federal Ministry of Education, and the Committee of States’ Commissioners of Education, focused on the theme “Pathways to Sustainable Education Financing: Developing a Synergy Between Town and Gown in Nigeria.”
Senator Shettima said, “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.”
The Vice President emphasised that Nigeria has reached a critical inflection point where traditional government-only funding models can no longer sustain the country’s educational needs. He called for a fundamental shift toward collaborative, innovative, and resilient financing mechanisms.
In his words: “The burden cannot rest on government alone. We must enlist private sector actors, industry leaders, alumni networks, philanthropists, and communities to co-invest in laboratories, research centres, vocational hubs, innovation clusters, and endowment funds.”
VP Shettima detailed substantial increases across key education funding agencies under the President Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope plan, where, for example, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) budget grew from ₦320.3 billion in 2023 to ₦683.4 billion in 2024, and now stands at ₦1.6 trillion in 2025.
The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has distributed ₦92.4 billion in matching grants to 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Another ₦19 billion has supported teacher development across 32 states and the FCT, while ₦1.5 billion has reached more than 1,147 communities. Individual state UBE grants have increased from approximately ₦1.3 billion to over ₦3.3 billion, allowing states to access more than ₦6.6 billion through counterpart funding arrangements.
The newly created Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), established under the Student Loans Act of 2024, has already disbursed ₦86.3 billion to over 450,000 students in 218 tertiary institutions nationwide.
According to the Vice President, “This Fund signals a new era where no Nigerian is denied tertiary education for lack of money.
“The learning crisis cannot be solved without safe and well-equipped schools, from basic classrooms to technical laboratories. Teachers must enjoy adequate training, welfare, and professional recognition if they are to deliver the outcomes our children deserve.”
He called for deliberate collaboration across federal, state, and local government levels, emphasising the importance of prompt counterpart funding, transparent utilisation of resources, and strict adherence to action plans.
“Since education begins in the community, local governments and traditional institutions must take responsibility for infrastructure development, school maintenance, security, and teacher welfare.
“We are here today because we do not treat education as just a line item in the national budget. We treat it as the foundation of our national identity, the engine of our economic transformation, and the shield of our collective security,” the Vice President said.
Signed
Media & Communications
Office of The Vice President
9th December 2025
