The Federal Government has said no qualified Nigerian student will be denied access to higher education because of financial hardship, insisting that the Tinubu administration has introduced reforms aimed at making tertiary education accessible to all.
Speaking during a meeting with members of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said President Bola Tinubu had prioritised education by removing financial obstacles that previously prevented many young Nigerians from attending universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
According to a statement by the Minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, Alausa said the administration’s education reforms were designed to ensure that students from low-income families have equal opportunities to pursue 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,” the minister said.
He added that the government had backed its reforms with more than ₦1 trillion in investments across the tertiary education sector over the past two years.
According to Alausa, ₦250 billion has been allocated for the construction of new student hostels, while over ₦150 billion has gone into rehabilitating hostels, classrooms, engineering workshops and other academic facilities.
The minister also disclosed that the government invested more than ₦130 billion in upgrading medical schools and expanding their training capacity nationwide.
He said an additional ₦52 billion had been approved to procure modern equipment for 18 medical schools, while nearly ₦30 billion was committed to establishing 11 medical simulation laboratories to improve practical clinical training.
To strengthen engineering education, Alausa said the Federal Government invested almost ₦110 billion in building and rehabilitating engineering workshops and providing modern equipment for federal universities, universities of technology and polytechnics.
Describing the interventions as among the largest investments in Nigeria’s tertiary education history, he said they would improve teaching, research and innovation while producing graduates with practical skills needed to drive economic growth.
“This is amazing. This is just mind-boggling what this President has done in rapidly transforming tertiary education,” Alausa said.
He reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to working with institutions and stakeholders to ensure the reforms deliver stronger educational outcomes and greater opportunities for students.
During the meeting, the 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 established governance structures to support the growth of the specialised programmes.
She disclosed that six Nigerian universities currently offer Audiology programmes, five offer Occupational Therapy, while three offer Speech and Language Therapy. She added that the University of Benin is expected to begin an Occupational Therapy programme in the 2026/2027 academic session.
However, Amu identified delays in the release of TETFund support as a major challenge affecting implementation.
The Federal Government has made expanding access to higher education a central part of President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, introducing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to provide interest-free student loans while increasing investments in tertiary education infrastructure nationwide.
