Vice-President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s education budget has jumped to N3.52 trillion in 2025 under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Mr Shettima, who stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, at the opening of the 2025 Nigeria Education Forum, said the improved budgetary provision was a significant increase from N1.54 trillion in 2023.

The forum was organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), federal ministry of education, and the committee of states’ commissioners of education.

The theme of the forum was ‘Pathways to Sustainable Education Financing: Developing a Synergy Between Town and Gown in Nigeria’.

Represented by Aliyu Modibbo, the special adviser to the president on general duties (Office of the Vice-President), Mr Shettima said that the number of out-of-school children in the country constitutes a national emergency.

The vice-president called for collaboration between government and private sector stakeholders to address the problem.

Mr Shettima stated that education spending under President Bola Tinubu reflected the administration’s unwavering commitment to building an enlightened and globally competitive population.

He added, ” 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 had reached a critical inflexion point where traditional government-only funding models can no longer sustain the country’s educational needs.

Mr Shettima, therefore, called for a fundamental shift toward collaborative, innovative, and resilient financing mechanisms.

”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.”

Mr Shettima detailed substantial increases across key education funding agencies under the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope plan.

”For example, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) budget grew from N320.3 billion in 2023 to N683.4 billion in 2024, and now stands at N1.6 trillion in 2025.

”The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has distributed N92.4 billion in matching grants to 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

”Another N19 billion has supported teacher development across 32 states and the FCT, while N1.5 billion has reached more than 1,147 communities.

”Individual state UBE grants have increased from approximately N1.3 billion to over N3.3 billion, allowing states to access more than N6.6 billion through counterpart funding arrangements,” the vice-president added.

He said that the newly created Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), established under the Students’ Loans Act of 2024, had already disbursed ₦86.3 billion to over 450,000 students in 218 tertiary institutions nationwide.

Mr Shettima said, “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.

(NAN)