AS Nigeria steps into 2026, the need to devote more attention to education remains glaringly urgent for stakeholders, including all tiers of government and development partners.
President Bola Tinubu’s 2026 budget proposal earmarked N3.52 trillion for education, representing just 6.1 per cent of the total N58.18 trillion expenditure. While he insisted during his budget presentation that the move supported his Renewed Hope Agenda, experts argued that such allocation was insufficient to address the sector’s structural weaknesses and pressing needs.
This was also as the president made several promises during his campaign and post-election addresses to reform the education sector by augmenting its funding.
The ICIR reports that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) benchmark recommends that at least 15 to 20 per cent of a national budget be directed toward education.
Going by the recommendations, a more adequate education budget for 2026 would have been between N8.7 trillion and N11.6 trillion, significantly higher than the allocated N3.52 trillion.
In an interview with The ICIR, Education policy analyst, Ishiaq Ishowo, noted that the chronic underfunding of tertiary institutions was compounded by inefficiencies in accessing allocated capital.
This concern is reflected in the Federal Government’s directive mandating all vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts to publish detailed financial and operational data on their schools’ websites.
The Ministry of Education in April 2025 directive required schools to provide full breakdowns of personnel costs, overheads, capital expenditures, TETFund allocations, research grants, endowment funds, and student enrollment figures.
The ministry also emphasised that this information must be accessible, user-friendly, and publicly visible, with compliance to be verified through periodic reviews.
However, many of the institutions have yet to implement the directive as accessing such information on their websites still prove futile.
Recognising this problem, the Federal Government again, in November 2025, directed all vice-chancellors, rectors, and provosts to publish detailed financial and operational data on institutional websites through the Tertiary Institution Governance and Transparency Platform (FTIGTP).
The initiative, unveiled by the Education Minister, Tunji Alausa, similarly requires institutions to provide full breakdowns of personnel costs, overheads, capital expenditures, TETFund allocations, research grants, endowment funds, and student enrollment figures.
Ishowo, however, stressed that while funds are budgeted for infrastructure, laboratories, and institutional development, they often remain underutilised due to delays in disbursement and gaps in transparency.
“Year after year, funds are budgeted and provisions are made in the capital accounts, but the real question is: how accessible are these funds? What is the level of actual funding and cash backing for these budgets in our tertiary institutions?
“At the same time, accountability and transparency in these institutions are also in question. It is often difficult to access detailed information on their expenditures. Their websites are not transparent, and even the government struggles to gain insight into how these institutions spend their funds,” he said.
‘Funding is only part of the problem’
Beyond funding, welfare and infrastructure deficits remain critical as academic staff wages, allowances, and other stimulus packages often dominate policy discussions, according to Ishowo.
The ICIR reports that safety of students and teachers became one of the major issues of the Tinubu’s administration as attacks on schools and mass abductions of students became frequent towards the end of 2025.
Despite billions poured into the Safe Schools Initiative over the past decade, the attacks on school show how little protection many vulnerable schools actually have, according to analysts.
During The ICIR visit to Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School Maga in Kebbi State, where 24 students were kidnapped in 2025, this organisation gathered that the response capacity of security officers was grossly ineffective as terrorists still moved in and out of the school for nearly two hours without meaningful resistance.
Sequel to the Kebbi abduction, terrorists in the early hours of Friday, November 21, stormed St. Mary’s Papiri Private Catholic Secondary School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State, and abducted over 200 students and teachers.
These incidents, and the broader insecurity in and around schools, has left long-lasting psychological scars, according to Ishowo, who said the Nigeria government must prioritise safety of schools and students in 2026.
Ishowo mentioned that many of the affected students might never return to their original schools.
He argued that schools should be treated as essential infrastructure, deserving protection at both national and subnational levels.
“A persistent problem in Nigeria remains infrastructural and welfare deficits in schools. Welfare issues, such as salary packages, allowances, and stimulus packages for academic staff—often dominate concerns. Beyond that, student safety is a major challenge. When students are abducted, the psychological trauma is severe. Some may never return to the classroom, while others may have to transfer schools entirely, “ he said, adding that “parents are also unlikely to send children back to institutions where such incidents occur, regardless of whether ransom was paid by the government or the victim’s family.
“Most schools in Nigeria lack basic security infrastructure, such as perimeter fencing. Many maintain outdated structures with no modern security planning. There is limited presence of civil defense or other security personnel crucial for safeguarding infrastructure and protecting students. Policymakers need to rethink school security at subnational and national levels, ensuring that schools are recognised as critical infrastructure that requires protection,” he added.
A national funding gap persists
The ICIR reports that the federal allocation of 6.1 per cent in the 2026 proposal for education continues a long-standing pattern of underinvestment despite recommendations of good budget by UNESCO and World Bank.
Nigeria remains well below the recommended thresholds, which has repeatedly been said to have limited the capacity of public schools to improve infrastructure, expand access, and provide quality education.
In 2025, the Federal Government allocated the same N3.52 trillion to the education sector. Although the allocation was the highest for the sector in the nation’s history, experts lamented that the sum was insufficient to tackle the industry’s challenges. They also argued that the fund was only big in number, not in value, given the depreciating value of the nation’s currency to the United States dollar.
Also in 2024, Tinubu allocated only N1.59 trillion of the N28.77 trillion national budget to the education sector.
Out of the allocation to the Education Ministry, N480 billion (N480,781,350,182) was budgeted for capital projects, constituting 30.3 per cent, and the overhead budget stood at 4.5 per cent, totalling N72.1 billion (N72,124,230,514). Meanwhile, personnel allocation was slightly over a trillion naira (N1,036,484,193,887), translating to 65.2 per cent of the ministry’s budget.
The ICIR reports that Tinubu’s appropriation for the sector in 2024 was more than what the late former President Muhammadu Buhari approved for the sector when he was in office. Between 2016 and 2019, under Buhari, education allocations fluctuated from N369.6 billion (7.9 per cent) in 2016 to N550.5 billion (7.4 per cent) in 2017. He subsequently allocated N605.8 billion (7.04 per cent) in 2018, and N620.5 billion (7.05 per cent) in 2019.
In 2020, the share dropped to N671.07 billion (6.7 per cent) and further declined to ₦742.5 billion (5.68 per cent) in 2021. The allocation rebounded in 2022 to ₦1.18 trillion (7.2 per cent), before reaching its highest percentage of 8.8 per cent in 2023.
Also, state-level budgets revealed a similar disparity. The ICIR analysis shows that in 2025, 17 states met or exceeded the UNESCO benchmark, including Enugu, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, and Oyo. Yet 19 states allocated less than 15 per cent, with Lagos, Akwa Ibom, and Edo spending below seven per cent despite their fiscal capacity.
ASUU strikes reflect deeper structural issues
Prolonged disputes between the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are among the factors that have crippled progress in the sector. Recall that on Monday, October 13, 2025, ASUU embarked on a two-week strike over alleged failure of government to implement the renegotiated agreement submitted since February.
Although the strike was abruptly suspended on October 22 by the union’s leadership after “useful engagements” with the Nigerian government, concerns remain over a possible fresh strike due to what the union described as the slow pace of government negotiations.
Meanwhile, education expert, Ishowo, stressed that without addressing these foundational issues, industrial actions would continue to disrupt academic calendars and frustrate students.
Ishowo argued that meaningful reforms, akin to past bold decisions in tax, subsidy, and student loan policies, were necessary to create sustainable change.
He added that engaging union bodies, ensuring transparent fund utilisation, and redefining institutional autonomy would strengthen universities while protecting students’ learning and wellbeing.
“In terms of solutions, the government can mitigate some of these challenges through deliberate engagement and political will. Bold reforms, similar to those implemented in tax, subsidy, student loans, and forex unification, can yield long-term benefits despite potential initial resistance. Engaging union bodies and taking decisive actions can strengthen the feasibility and performance of tertiary institutions.”
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M