The Federal Government has assured Nigerians that no qualified student will be denied access to higher education because of financial hardship. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has removed financial barriers to tertiary education through student-focused reforms and investments exceeding ₦1 trillion across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, gave the assurance during a meeting with members of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, the minister emphasised the administration’s commitment to ensuring that every qualified Nigerian, regardless of economic background, has access to quality higher education.
“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 stated.
He added that the President’s reforms are aimed at empowering young Nigerians to contribute meaningfully to national development.
“We thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for believing in the youth of this country and giving them all the opportunities for them to excel, to be useful to themselves, to be useful to their communities, to be useful to the country and to the global world at large,” the minister said.
Alausa explained that beyond expanding access, the Federal Government has backed its commitment with unprecedented investments exceeding ₦1 trillion in the tertiary education sector over the past two years.
Almost ₦110 billion invested in constructing and rehabilitating engineering workshops and providing modern equipment for federal universities of technology, conventional universities offering engineering programmes, and polytechnics.
Describing the interventions as among the largest investments in Nigeria’s tertiary education history, the minister said they cover new infrastructure, rehabilitation of facilities, procurement of modern equipment, expansion of specialised laboratories and workshops, and strengthening institutional capacity for teaching, learning and research.
“This is amazing. This is just mind-boggling what this President has done in rapidly transforming tertiary education,” Alausa said. He noted that the investments will enable tertiary institutions to produce graduates equipped with the knowledge, technical skills and practical competencies needed to drive innovation, industrialisation and long-term economic growth.
The minister reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to working with tertiary institutions and other stakeholders to ensure the reforms translate into improved educational outcomes, stronger institutions and greater opportunities for Nigerian students.
These efforts form a key component of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. In the past year, the government has rolled out the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to provide interest-free loans to eligible students, while significantly increasing investment in tertiary education infrastructure through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The administration has also prioritised the rehabilitation of medical schools, engineering workshops, student hostels and other learning facilities to improve the quality of teaching, research and innovation across Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.