Tinubu Has Invested Over ₦1tn in Tertiary Education, Removed Financial Barriers

Tinubu Has Invested Over ₦1tn in Tertiary Education, Removed Financial Barriers – Alausa
Says No Qualified Nigerian Should Miss Higher Education Because of Poverty
Tinubu Expanding Access to Higher Education Through Massive Investments

The Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, has said the Federal Government has invested more than ₦1 trillion in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector over the past two years, describing it as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s efforts to remove financial barriers to higher education and improve learning infrastructure across the country.

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Eko Hot Blog reports that Alausa disclosed this during a meeting with members of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education, where he said the administration’s education reforms are aimed at ensuring that no qualified Nigerian is denied access to higher education because of financial hardship.

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According to the minister, the Tinubu administration is expanding access to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education while strengthening institutions to produce the skilled workforce needed for national development.

“This President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has opened up access to students so that not having money, or coming from an indigent family, or your parents being poor, will no longer stop you from achieving the opportunities you can achieve in life. Education is no longer a barrier for students in this country,” Alausa said.

He noted that the Federal Government had committed ₦250 billion to the construction of new student hostels in tertiary institutions to improve accommodation and create a better learning environment.

The minister added that more than ₦150 billion had been invested in rehabilitating existing hostels, classrooms, engineering workshops and other academic facilities to enhance teaching, learning and research.

Alausa also disclosed that over ₦130 billion had been invested in rehabilitating medical schools and expanding their training capacity nationwide.

He said another ₦52 billion was being used to provide modern equipment for 18 medical schools, while nearly ₦30 billion had been committed to establishing 11 medical simulation laboratories to strengthen practical clinical training.

To improve engineering education, the minister said the Federal Government had invested almost ₦110 billion in constructing and rehabilitating engineering workshops and providing modern equipment for federal universities of technology, conventional universities offering engineering programmes and polytechnics.

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He described the interventions as some of the biggest investments in the history of Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, noting that they cover infrastructure development, rehabilitation of facilities, procurement of modern equipment and expansion of specialised laboratories and workshops.

According to him, the investments are expected to equip graduates with the technical skills and practical competencies needed to drive innovation, industrialisation and long-term economic growth.

During the meeting, Chairman of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education, Dr. Victoria Omua Amu, said the committee had developed a one-year implementation plan and commenced consultations with the National Universities Commission, the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Registration Board of Nigeria and other stakeholders to expand specialised healthcare education.

She revealed that six Nigerian universities currently offer Audiology programmes, five offer Occupational Therapy programmes, while three run Speech and Language Therapy programmes, adding that the University of Benin would commence Occupational Therapy in the 2026/2027 academic session.

Alausa reaffirmed the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to working with tertiary institutions and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the ongoing reforms translate into improved learning outcomes, stronger institutions and greater opportunities for Nigerian students.