When late former President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May 2015, Nigeria’s education system was in fragile shape, and he promised a break from the past.
He came in with the credibility of discipline and a promise of order backed by the mantra of change.
Expectations were high, but the years that followed became one of the most difficult times for Nigerian tertiary institutions, leading to the most prolonged disruption in academic activities in history.
His government, however, launched some reforms which include licensing of new universities, an increase in capital funding for tertiary institutions, and improvement of welfare for teachers.
Here is how the education sector fared under his administration, starting with what arguably set the tone for the rest: budget allocations.
The education slice of the federal budget began to shrink under the administration, falling well below global standards.
In 2015, just before Buhari took office, education received N484.2 billion, 10.7% of the federal budget.
However, from 2016 onward during Buhari’s first full budget cycle, the education allocation dropped to N369.6 billion, making up only 7.9% of the N6.0 trillion budget. The downward trend continued in 2017, it fell by 7.4%; and by 2018 and 2019, it hovered around 7%. In 2020, the allocation was 6.7%, and by 2021, despite a nominal increase to N742 billion, education’s share of the N13.08 trillion budget dropped to 5.6%.
By 2022, education claimed 5.39% of the budget, equating to N923.79 billion out of N17.13 trillion, and in the 2023 fiscal year, it accounted for 5.3% of the total budget allocation for the year. Still significantly lower than the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s benchmark for funding education at 26% of the national budget and 6% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
Despite increasing absolute figures year-on-year, the actual share of education in the national budget steadily declined. This budgetary decline placed universities in a peculiar bind; while they received large capital funds for buildings and renovations, they struggled to meet the day-to-day costs of academic programs, staff salaries, research, and student welfare.
The consequences of this imbalance became most visible in what turned out to be one of the most difficult periods for Nigerian universities.
Buhari turned to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the apex agency for tertiary education financing, to recalibrate the system. From 2015 to early 2023, the administration oversaw a dramatic injection of N1.702 trillion into federal universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Of the approved N320.345 billion for 2023, each university was to get for the year 2023 intervention cycle, the total sum of N1,154,732,133.00. This comprises N954,732,123.00 as annual direct disbursement and N200 million as zonal intervention.
Similarly, each Polytechnic shall get N699,344,867.00, comprising N569,344,807.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130 million as zonal intervention. Each College of Education shall get N800,862,602, comprising N670,862,602.00 as annual direct disbursement and N130 million as zonal intervention.
To understand just how historic that is, it surpassed the N1.249 trillion disbursed in the fund’s first two decades combined (1993–2014).
The contradiction between infrastructure expansion and operational dysfunction became glaring as industrial strikes disrupted the academic calendar year after year, which resulted in hundreds of lost academic days, further exacerbating the sector’s woes and contributing to a growing sense of disillusionment among students and parents.
The contradiction between infrastructure expansion and operational dysfunction became glaring as industrial strikes disrupted the academic calendar year after year, which resulted in hundreds of lost academic days, further exacerbating the sector’s woes and contributing to a growing sense of disillusionment among students and parents.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was on strike for about 663 days between 2015 and 2022 nearly two full academic years lost. The most debilitating was the eight-month-long strike in 2022, which brought undergraduate studies in federal universities to a halt.
The reasons were familiar: unresolved demands on revitalisation funds, unpaid allowances, disputes over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), and the federal government’s refusal to honour collective agreements.
Despite rising TETFund allocations, ASUU argued that much of the investment was misdirected or inaccessible for the core needs of university staff and students.
When President Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015, Nigeria had 128 registered universities. By the time he left office in 2023, that number had risen to 222.
This includes 10 new federal universities, 22 new state-owned institutions, and 62 private universities licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
While this is commendable as a policy direction and increased access to tertiary education, there were ongoing concerns about whether the infrastructure, staffing, and funding systems were strong enough to support the rapid growth.
Many of the newly licensed private universities, for instance, struggled with accreditation and facilities.
Another landmark policy was the approval of a new retirement age and service length for public school teachers. Teachers in public basic and secondary schools were allowed to retire at 65 years of age or after 40 years of service, whichever came first. This was an increase of five years from the previous 35 years of service
The government also introduced a special salary scale for teachers effective from January 1, 2022, along with a new pension scheme designed specifically for education professionals and special salary and pension scales for basic and secondary school teachers.
The Buhari administration committed N240 billion in Universal Basic Education (UBE) matching grants to states and the FCT between 2015 and 2023. These grants were designed to support primary and junior secondary schools in expanding access, improving infrastructure, and training teachers. Additionally, N24 billion was allocated under the Teachers Professional Development Fund.
However, despite these allocations, many states were unable to access the funds due to their failure to meet counterpart funding requirements. Reports by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) showed that a significant portion of the matching grants remained unaccessed as late as 2023, revealing administrative inefficiencies and gaps in political will at the sub-national level.
The administration revisited and reversed some controversial curriculum decisions made under the previous administration.
One of the major flashpoints was the merger of Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) and Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) into Civic Education, a move originally introduced during President Goodluck Jonathan’s tenure.
The policy was part of a broader effort to streamline subjects and reduce curriculum overload for students. But by blending CRK and IRK into a single civic framework, the reform ignited backlash from religious groups, educationists, and parents alike, who argued that it erased the moral and doctrinal foundations critical to children’s character formation.
Responding to the growing tension, the Buhari administration, through the then Education Minister Adamu Adamu, ordered the immediate restoration of CRK and IRK as distinct, standalone subjects by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), which oversees curriculum design.
Alongside this reversal, the administration also took a corrective step by restoring History as a standalone subject at the basic education level. Like CRK and IRK, History had previously been collapsed into Social Studies, diminishing its prominence and weakening young Nigerians’ connection to their national identity.
To enhance oversight and coordination, the government established the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC). The commission was tasked with regulating curriculum standards, learning environments, and teacher development at the senior secondary level.
This marked a structural shift, as Nigeria’s education system had previously focused more on regulating tertiary and basic education, often neglecting the secondary school tier.
One of Buhari’s government’s most publicized achievements in the education sector was the reported reduction in the number of out-of-school children.
According to reports by Naijaonpoint, as disclosed by the federal government, the population of out-of-school children dropped by 3,247,590, falling from 10.1 million in May 2019 to 6.94 million by December 31, 2020.
This significant decrease was credited to the World Bank–financed Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) program, which was implemented across 17 states.
Of the total reduction, 1.79 million children were enrolled through formal school systems, while another 1.45 million were captured via non-formal interventions targeted at vulnerable groups such as Almajiri children, girls excluded from education, nomadic and migrant populations, and internally displaced persons.
The BESDA program created opportunities for millions of previously excluded children, aligning closely with Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims for inclusive and equitable quality education.
Buhari’s administration launched the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project with a $200 million credit from the World Bank to revitalize the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system.