Education funding hits ₦3.52trn as Shettima warns of national emergency
The federal government says the education sector is set to receive a major boost, with the 2025 allocation rising to ₦3.52 trillion — more than double the ₦1.54 trillion budgeted in 2023.
Vice-President Kashim Shettima, speaking on Tuesday in Abuja, described the growing number of out-of-school children as a national emergency and urged private sector leaders, philanthropists, and communities to support government efforts to fund education.
Shettima, represented by Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar, the Special Adviser to the President on General Duties, delivered the remarks at the opening session of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum.
The event, jointly 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.”
The Vice-President said the significant rise in funding under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu demonstrates the administration’s commitment to building “an enlightened and globally competitive population”.
“Nothing threatens a civilisation more than an uneducated generation,” he said. “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 stressed that Nigeria has reached a crucial point where government-only financing can no longer sustain the nation’s educational demands. He called for collaborative and innovative funding models, urging private sector players and alumni networks to co-invest in infrastructure, research, vocational centres, and endowment funds.
Under the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda, several education agencies have recorded major increases:
- TETFund rose from ₦320.3bn (2023) to ₦683.4bn (2024) and now ₦1.6trn (2025).
- UBEC disbursed ₦92.4bn in matching grants to 25 states and the FCT.
- ₦19bn was allocated for teacher development across 32 states and the FCT.
- ₦1.5bn supported over 1,147 communities.
- Individual state UBE grants increased from ₦1.3bn to over ₦3.3bn, enabling states to access more than ₦6.6bn through counterpart funding.
