President Bola Tinubu has highlighted his personal experience financing his education in the United States while outlining his administration’s education initiatives, including student loans, technical training and investment in medical schools.

Tinubu said he worked as a taxi driver after arriving in the U.S. as a young man and postponed starting school for several months to save money. After moving to Chicago, he held various jobs to support himself and pay for university.

“I know what it means to worry about tuition, accommodation and how to make ends meet while pursuing an education,” he said, adding that those experiences shaped his belief that every Nigerian child should have access to education, regardless of birthplace or family income.

He said the Renewed Hope administration had provided more than ₦372 billion in student loans through NELFUND to cover institutional fees and upkeep, helping students remain in school.

Tinubu also cited more than 2.8 million applications to the government’s technical and vocational education programme and the rehabilitation of 38 technical colleges. Students at federal and selected state technical colleges now receive free tuition, boarding, textbooks and uniforms, he said.

The president said a new agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) provides for a 40% increase in academic staff remuneration and measures to improve stability at universities. He added that four-year courses should be completed on schedule, saying students deserved to finish their education on time.

In medical education, Tinubu said the government was investing ₦110 billion to rehabilitate 24 medical schools. Annual nursing enrolment has risen from 28,000 to 115,000, while medical and dental enrolment has increased from 5,000 to 12,000, he said.

He said Nigeria needed more healthcare professionals and must expand its capacity to train them domestically. More than one million children who had been out of school have returned to learning, he added, while the government is investing in teacher development, expanding educational opportunities for girls and implementing a new national curriculum that restores Nigerian History to classrooms.

Tinubu commended Education Minister Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Education Professor Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad and the wider education team. He said the team had developed an interactive A–Z guide to the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), bringing together reforms, programmes, achievements and opportunities across the sector.

He invited Nigerians to visit edu4pbat.ng to explore the guide and learn about available opportunities and support for parents, students and teachers. Tinubu also encouraged people to report problems in their communities, saying public feedback would help identify and address them.

“Our journey from reform to opportunities and shared prosperity must begin with education,” he said. “The circumstances of a child’s birth should never determine the limits of their ambition.”

ASA