The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is challenging the Nigerian government to substantially increase its budgetary allocation to education, asserting that the current commitment is grossly insufficient.
Speaking at the 13th Convocation Lecture for the Nile University in Abuja, on Tuesday, the 18th of November, 2025, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, stressed the urgent necessity for Nigeria to align with global standards.
Echono argued that for Nigeria to experience meaningful educational progress, it must strive to meet the UNESCO recommendation of allocating 15%-20% of its national budget to education against the 7% it was currently working with. This significant increase is vital for institutions to be properly equipped with modern infrastructure. He noted that all key stakeholders, including the government, must improve funding to ensure academic environments are adequately provisioned with digital tools, state-of-the-art laboratories, and qualified instructors.
He cited regional neighbours as examples of countries successfully prioritizing educational investment. During his address on the theme, Redefining the Nigerian Education System for the 21st Century Workforce, he highlighted that nations like Rwanda and Kenya allocate 18% and 16% of their national budgets to education, respectively, which has translated into notable strides in their own educational development.
The TETFund Executive Secretary also pointed to a crucial structural flaw: the nation’s curriculum at all levels requires a complete overhaul to meet the demands of the global labour market. He emphasized that the educational output is not meeting modern requirements, stating:
“Current curricula, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels, do not reflect the job market demands of the 21st century. Aligning Nigeria’s education curriculum with global labour market demands is crucial for preparing students for the future workforce, which Is increasingly shaped by technological advancements, automation, and globalization.”
To bridge this gap and address the rising tide of youth unemployment, Echono proposed a fundamental shift in educational focus: “The Nigerian curricula should integrate digital literacy, entrepreneurship education, and technical skills across all education levels. Subjects such as data science, renewable energy technologies, artificial intelligence, and financial literacy should be common in secondary and tertiary institutions,” he said.
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He attributed the paradoxical situation of thousands of annual graduates coexisting with high youth unemployment and underemployment to an education system grossly misaligned with the requirements of the modern labour market.
Reversing these concerning trends demands a concerted effort to leverage technology in learning. Echono asserted that the promotion of the integration of ICT in our education delivery to expand digital literacy across Nigeria is essential for future-proofing the Nigerian education system. He noted a significant impediment, citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (2022) that showed only 35% of Nigerian students had access to Internet services in 2020, largely due to a lack of broadband infrastructure in rural areas.
Finally, to position Nigeria’s education system correctly for the 21st-century workforce, Echono concluded that the country must institute a comprehensive professional development framework. This framework is necessary to empower teachers with the relevant skills and resources necessary for modern pedagogy.