Federal varsities to get financial autonomy, as FG considers increasing education budget to 25%

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, has indicated the intention of the Federal Government to grant universities financial autonomy.

Mamman spoke at the opening of the 2021 and 2022 Nigeria Annual Education Conference (NAEC) on Monday in Abuja with the theme: “Implementation of Education 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Nigeria.”

The minister said: ” Mr President is determined, among others, to initiate a new creative means of funding tertiary education by granting universities the autonomy to explore new sources of financing their activities.”

He also said President Bola Tinubu was committed to increasing the budget for education by 25 per cent, even as he vowed to ensure policy statements in the sector were implemented.

This was coming as the United Nations asked the federal government to increase its current budgetary allocation to the education sector from seven to 20 per cent

”President Tinubu has directed the return of the 10.5 million out-of-school children to school at the expiration of his tenure.

”We still have a long way to go. We are not matching the children in the country with the desired education, and this is because our policies are not producing the values we need.

“What we need is the action on ground and not the policy declaration. This is where I can tell you we intend to come in.”

The minister expressed sadness over the recent killing of one Deborah Atanda, a nursing student of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, a few days ago, and directed the institution’s vice-chancellor to collaborate with the security agencies to unmask the perpetrators.

Also, Education Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), James O’Donoghue, pledged the UK’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in actualizing the 2030 SDG agenda and to ensuring every child receives a quality education, called for an increase in funding the sector.

The UN suggested that the federal government increase its current budgetary allocation to the education sector from seven to 20 per cent to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4—universal, inclusive, and equitable basic education for all school-age children by 2030.

For years, Nigeria’s allocation to the education sector has been below the recommended benchmark for developing nations.

In the 2023 budget, the sector got N1.79 trillion — representing 8.2 per cent of the appropriation bill — according to Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning