Education
Education Sector and FG’s Promises
By Jerome-Mario Chijioke Utomi
There are two recent exciting events in the country that provided sidelight to this particular piece. Fortunately, also both are education sector-specific.
First, the recent in Abuja while receiving members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) led by the Co-Chairs, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Revd. (Dr) Samson Olasupo Ayokunle.
In that meeting, Mr President Muhammadu Buhari among other things stated that the Federal Government remains committed to honouring promises made to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to prevent disruptive strikes, engender uninterrupted academic programmes and improve funding of educational institutions.
The second has to do with another similar decision/pledge by the Federal Government of Nigeria, during the celebration of the International Day of Education, to increase Nigeria’s annual domestic expenditure on education by 50 per cent over the next two years, and by 100 per cent by 2025.
Interestingly, this piece is not the only one that viewed the comments, particularly the second development as a right step taken in the right direction.
Take, as an illustration, a statement issued and signed on Monday by Geoffrey Njoku, UNICEF Communication Specialist in Maiduguri, among other things, which said, “The Nigerian government has committed to increasing funding for education, which is a very important step. Far too many Nigerian children today are not in the classroom and for those who are; far too many are not getting a solid education that can translate into good prospects for their futures. This is a step forward, an increase from 5.7 per cent allocated for 2021, though there is still a long way to go to reach the internationally recommended benchmark that countries spend 15-20 per cent of their national budgets on education”.
The statement added that “at least 10.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria, the highest rate in the world. A full one-third of Nigerian children are not in school, and one in five out-of-school children in the world are Nigerian,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
Essentially, aside from what UNESCO said, there are of course in my view other intrinsic reasons why the latest moves by the Federal Government, if implemented, deserve the commendations of Nigerians.
Chronic perennial underfunding visited on the sector by the past and present administrations have as a consequence impeded public universities lecturers from carrying out scholarly research, truncates academic calendar with strike actions, laced Nigerian universities with dilapidated and overstretched learning facilities with the universities producing graduates devoid of linkage with the manpower demand by the nation’s industrial sector.
Most pathetically, this age-long challenge has in some public institutions of higher learning led to a thoughtless demand for fees of varying amounts/proposed by the school authorities, a development that financially squeezed the life out of the innocent students and their parents while stripping our education process and outcome fairness.
Take as an illustration of underfunding, the Nigerian government’s initial budget for 2020, going by reports, was N10.5 trillion ($25.6 billion) of which N686.8 billion ($1.7 billion) was for education. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was amended. The overall budget was increased slightly to N10.8 trillion, but that for education fell to N607.7 billion. The allocation to the education of N686.8 billion worked out to 6.5% of the initial 2020 budget. The revised budget of N10.8 trillion meant that education’s share of N607.7 billion then accounted for 5.6% of the total.
According to the country’s budget office, the funding allocated to the basic education commission in 2020, in the initial and amended budgets, are as follows; the initial budget, N137.97 billion ($336.5 million) was allocated to the commission. In the amended budget, the allocation dropped to N79.9 billion ($194.8 million).
Despite these efforts, the budgetary allocation to the education sector for the said year did not scratch the surface of the UNESCO budgetary recommendation to nations, which currently stands at between 20/26%.
The above failure and failing coupled with another mirage of challenges within the sector have rendered the present move by, and celebration of the Federal Government present effort/promise as a new invention which usually comes with opportunities and challenges.
This assertion is predicated on the fact that the challenges confronting the education sector in Nigeria are hydra-headed and go beyond perennial underfunding to include dilapidated learning facilities, overcrowded classes and obsolete policies among others. A case that calls for more work, reforms holistic approach in ways that demand from the Federal Government the urgent need to go beyond this present promise.
Take as another illustration, the Institute for Statistics (UIS), the official statistics agency for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have till, when discontinued publishing these indicators in September 2020, because it had since adopted other indicators, recommended about 58 pupils to every qualified teacher. But that is not the situation in most schools in Nigeria, particularly the state/federal government-owned primary and secondary schools.
More specifically, a visit to the public schools (both primary and secondary) in some Northern and Southern parts of the country not only supports this belief but says something ‘new and different. Even in other Southern states, the situation is not different. In Lagos for example, where there is a huge demand for learning opportunities, the number of students per teacher/per class is far above the UNESCO recommendation. The facts are there and speak for it.
It is also of truth, says a research report, that there are still a huge number of those who are in these schools, but are learning nothing-as schooling does not always lead to learning. In Nigeria, it is finally becoming evident that there are more non-learners in school than out of school.
Presently also, the world is in agreement that it has not been an easy road for the Nigerian education sector. Since May 1999, when democracy re-emerged on the political surface called Nigeria, it has been a tough and tumbles ride. Even the practice of democracy in the country, contrary to earlier beliefs, has not helped to stop the pangs of challenges experienced by Nigerians in the sector.
Both the federal and state governments in Nigeria continue to allow the rate of out of school children, especially in the northern part of Nigeria, to swell in number, even when it is obvious that the streets are known for breeding all forms of criminals and other social misfits who constitute the real threat in the forms of armed robbers; thugs, drunkards, prostitutes and all other social ills that give a bad name to the society, Nigerians are beginning to view Government’s approach to the challenge as not yielding the targeted result.
Just very recently, it was reported that out of the seventeen states in the country with the highest number of out-of-school children, 14 of the states are in the North. The commentary also noted that if the rate of out of school children can be curtailed, it would help check the insecurity that is currently bedevilling parts of the country, and would to a large extent signal goodbye to insecurity threats across the country.
For the recent promises by Federal Government to bear the target fruit, one point we must all bear in mind is that the major problem standing in the way/preventing Nigerians from enjoying piece in the education sector is the government’s progressive non-recognition of the right to education as a human right despite their membership of a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights where the right is respected.
Utomi Jerome-Mario is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Public Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), a Lagos-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). He can be reached via Je*********@***oo.com/08032725374
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Prize for Literature has unveiled an 11-title longlist for its 2026 edition, selecting the outstanding poetry collections from a record 223 submissions received for the competition.
This was contained in a press statement signed by General Manager, External Relations & Sustainable Development, Mrs Sophia Horsfall.
The announcement, by the chairman of the Advisory Board for the Prize, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, marks a significant milestone in this year’s competition and reflects the exceptional quality, creativity and diversity of contemporary poetry.
The longlisted titles, arranged alphabetically, are:
1. Adult Love by Tanure Ojaide
2. Bakandimiya by Saddiq Dzukogi
3. Black Passport by Paul Akpomuje
4. 2000 Blacks by Ajibola Tolase
5. Ceremony for The Nameless by Theresa Lola
6. Corpus: Animistic Verses by Ayo Oyeku
1. Floral’s Love Colony by Tares Oburumu
2. The Origin of Wounds by Malik Gbolahan
3. The Years of Blood by Adebayo Agarau
4. Unbind Me Now by James Ugwu Eze
5. Why Does God Need a Gun by Ogaga Ifowodo
Professor Adimora-Ezeigbo described the announcement as an important stage in the 2026 edition of arguably Africa’s biggest and most prestigious literary Prize.
She noted that the collections demonstrate the remarkable capacity of poetry to illuminate human experience through thoughtful reflection, cultural memory and artistic expression.
The academic added that the works revisit history while interrogating dominant historical narratives and exposing the forces that shape collective identities and social relations.
She stated that despite their varied emphases, the books share a commitment to exploring the endurance of individuals and communities in the face of violence, oppression, and social fragmentation.
Commenting on style and language, she said the books display an impressive diversity of poetic techniques marked by lyrical intensity, symbolic depth, and artistic innovation.
“Many employ densely poetic, allegorical, and elegiac modes that invite multiple layers of interpretation, while others draw extensively on folklore, oral traditions, and contemporary realities to create a compelling fusion of past and present. Their language is generally fluid, evocative, and aesthetically refined, relying on vivid imagery, emotional resonance, and intellectual sophistication to communicate complex ideas. These works demonstrate how poetic language can illuminate social realities, challenge established perspectives, and give voice to both individual and collective experiences.
“The next stage will demand a closer reading of each work, with attention to language, form, originality and lasting literary value,” she stated.
She also commended the judges for their work and reaffirmed the Advisory Board’s commitment to a credible process, literary excellence and the promotion of a strong reading culture.
The announcement of the 11-title longlist formally opens the next phase of the shortlist of three in August and the possible announcement of the winner in October.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by NLNG, carries a cash award of $100,000 for the author of the winning book. In its 22nd year, the prize rotates annually across four genres – prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature – with the 2026 edition devoted to poetry.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has slashed the fees for the assessment and ranking of textbooks ahead of the implementation of the National Textbook Ranking Policy scheduled to commence in September 2026.
The reduction, approved through the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), was aimed at easing the financial burden on publishers and authors while facilitating compliance with the new national textbook quality assurance framework.
The decision comes ahead of the implementation of the National Textbook Ranking Policy introduced by the Minister of Education, Mr Tunji Alausa, to improve the quality and standardisation of instructional materials used in schools across the country.
Announcing the development in a statement on Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of NERDC, Mr Salisu Shehu, said the assessment fee had been reduced from N2,000 to N1,500 per page, while the ranking fee for each textbook title had been cut from N1 million to N750,000.
He said the revised fees take immediate effect and apply to all publishers and authors submitting textbooks for assessment and ranking.
Mr Shehu also disclosed that publishers who had already paid the previous assessment fee of N2,000 per page would receive refunds of the excess payments, adding that details of the refund process would be announced in due course.
He urged all stakeholders in the publishing industry to comply with the new fee regime.
“Under the policy, only textbooks that have been assessed, approved and ranked by NERDC will be approved for use in Nigerian classrooms from September 2026, while unranked textbooks will no longer be permitted,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister explained that the initiative was designed to tackle the proliferation of textbooks in schools and ensure that teachers and learners have access to high-quality, curriculum-compliant instructional materials.
The minister restated that NERDC will continue to exercise its statutory responsibility of approving textbooks for use in schools, but that approval alone would no longer be sufficient under the new policy.
“Instead, every approved textbook will undergo a structured national evaluation and ranking process by expert committees to determine the most suitable and highest-quality books for each subject and level of education,” he said.
The minister was optimistic that the National Textbook Ranking Policy will strengthen quality assurance in education by providing schools, teachers and parents with reliable guidance on the best instructional materials for teaching and learning.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A free educational initiative to equip children with practical Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) skills needed to grow, thrive and prosper in a rapidly evolving world has been put together in Lagos.
The programme, Young Innovators Camp, commenced on Monday in the Lekki area of Lagos State. It is organised by MONAT, with Fidelity Bank as the sponsor.
Participating children, who must be between 4 and 10 years, will have a hands-on learning experience focused on creativity, innovation, problem-solving and critical thinking. They will be introduced to age-appropriate STEM concepts, guided build sessions and other engaging activities designed to stimulate curiosity and encourage practical learning.
The camp will also feature small group learning with facilitators, financial literacy sessions, creative activities, and other interactive experiences that support confidence-building among participants.
Every participant will also receive a specially curated gift pack filled with educational resources and STEM learning materials to encourage continued exploration and learning at home, making the camp both a memorable and transformative experience.
The Young Innovators Camp reinforces Fidelity Bank’s ongoing investment in initiatives that prepare children and young people for the future. It builds on the bank’s education-focused interventions, including initiatives such as SWEETA, which supports children, and the lender’s broader CSR agenda, which prioritises youth empowerment, education, skills development and access to opportunities that can improve long-term outcomes for individuals and communities.
“The future will be shaped by those who can solve problems, think creatively, and harness technology to improve lives.
“At Fidelity Bank, we believe these abilities should be nurtured from an early age.
“Through the Young Innovators Camp, we are giving children the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a fun, practical and engaging way that inspires curiosity, builds confidence, and encourages innovation.
“We want every child who participates to leave believing that they have the potential not just to succeed in the future, but to help create it,” the Divisional Head of Brand and Communications at Fidelity Bank, Mr Meksley Nwagboh, said.
“As a bank committed to helping people grow, thrive and prosper, we see education, particularly STEM education, as a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future.
“Today’s young innovators will become tomorrow’s engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, inventors and technology leaders.
“By partnering with Monat, we are investing in a generation equipped with the skills, mindset and confidence to solve real-world challenges, create opportunities, and contribute meaningfully to national development.
“This is more than a summer camp; it is about unlocking potential and inspiring the next generation of innovators,” he added.
