No qualified student will be denied higher education over poverty – Minister

… as FG expands higher education access, invests over N1tn in infrastructure, training facilities

The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring that no qualified Nigerian is denied access to higher education because of financial hardship, as it disclosed that more than N1 trillion has been invested in the country’s tertiary education sector over the past two years to expand access and improve learning infrastructure.

Maruf Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, disclosed during a meeting with members of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education in Abuja, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by Ikharo Attah, Special Adviser on Media and Communications.

Alausa said President Bola Tinubu’s administration was removing the financial barriers that have historically prevented many qualified Nigerians from pursuing university education, while simultaneously investing heavily in infrastructure, specialised training facilities and modern learning environments across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

According to the minister, the reforms are aimed at ensuring that every qualified Nigerian, irrespective of economic background, has access to quality tertiary education while strengthening institutions to produce the skilled workforce required for national development and economic growth.

“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 said.

He described the administration’s education reforms as a strategic investment in human capital development, saying the government was prioritising the country’s greatest asset, its people.

“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,” he added.

The minister noted that students have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the Renewed Hope Agenda, with the Federal Government backing its education agenda through what he described as unprecedented investments in tertiary education infrastructure and institutional capacity.

He disclosed that the government has committed N250 billion to the construction of new student hostels across tertiary institutions to improve accommodation and create a more conducive learning environment.

According to him, more than N150 billion has also been invested in rehabilitating existing hostels, classrooms, engineering workshops and other academic facilities to enhance teaching, learning and research.

Alausa further revealed that over N130 billion has been invested in rehabilitating medical schools and expanding their training capacity nationwide.

He added that another N52 billion has been earmarked for the procurement of modern equipment for 18 medical schools, while nearly N30 billion has been committed to establishing 11 state-of-the-art medical simulation laboratories to strengthen practical clinical training and produce globally competitive healthcare professionals.

To boost engineering education and support industrial development, the minister said the Federal Government has also invested almost N110 billion in constructing and rehabilitating engineering workshops as well as providing modern equipment for federal universities of technology, conventional universities offering engineering programmes and polytechnics.

Alausa described the interventions as among the largest investments ever made in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, explaining that the over N1 trillion committed in the past two years covers the construction of new infrastructure, rehabilitation of existing facilities, procurement of modern equipment, expansion of specialised laboratories and workshops, and broader efforts to strengthen institutional capacity.

“This is amazing. This is just mind-boggling what this President has done in rapidly transforming tertiary education,” he said.

He stressed that beyond physical infrastructure, the investments are intended to reposition Nigerian tertiary institutions to produce graduates with the technical knowledge, practical competencies and innovation skills needed to drive industrialisation and long-term economic transformation.

Earlier, Victoria Omua Amu, Chairman of the National Committee for the Advancement of Occupational Therapy, Audiology and Speech and Language Therapy Education, briefed the minister on the committee’s progress since its inauguration.

She said the committee had developed a one-year implementation plan with clear timelines, established a governance framework featuring quarterly physical and monthly virtual meetings, and created three specialised subcommittees focusing on advocacy and communication, academic liaison and clinical training, as well as manpower development and transition pathways.

Amu disclosed that a baseline assessment showed that six Nigerian universities currently offer Audiology programmes, five offer Occupational Therapy programmes, while three offer Speech and Language Therapy programmes.

She said the committee had begun consultations with the National Universities Commission, the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Registration Board of Nigeria, universities, professional associations and private tertiary education providers, with its first stakeholder engagement held in Benin City, Edo State.

According to her, Occupational Therapy programmes are expanding across the country, with the University of Benin joining the list of institutions offering the programme from the 2026/2027 academic session.

She, however, identified delays in the release of TETFund support as the major challenge affecting the committee’s implementation plans.

Responding, Alausa reaffirmed the Federal Ministry of Education’s commitment to working with tertiary institutions and other stakeholders to ensure that the ongoing reforms translate into stronger institutions, improved educational outcomes and greater opportunities for Nigerian students.

He reiterated that the government would continue to support higher education institutions in delivering world-class teaching, research and innovation, while maintaining that no qualified Nigerian would be denied access to higher education because of financial constraints.