Nigeria is now better positioned to decisively confront the longstanding challenge of Almajiri and out-of-school children, Education Minister Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa has declared, citing strengthened federal-state collaboration and the establishment of a dedicated national commission as foundational reforms. Speaking during a peer learning webinar hosted by the Committee of States Commissioners of Education in Nigeria (COSCEN), the Minister emphasised that addressing this crisis is not merely a social imperative but a critical economic investment in the nation’s future workforce and productivity.
The scale of the challenge is staggering. Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, with estimates ranging from 10 million to over 20 million depending on methodology. The Almajiri system, particularly prevalent in northern states, involves children leaving their homes to study under Islamic teachers, often resulting in street begging and limited formal education. This population, excluded from the skills development and socialisation that formal education provides, represents a massive drag on long-term economic potential and a source of social vulnerability.
Dr. Alausa framed the government’s renewed commitment in terms of structural readiness. “Today the country is better positioned to manage and aggressively tackle this problem once and for all in a very strategic, futuristic and sustainable manner,” he stated. He attributed this improved outlook to the establishment of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education, a dedicated agency bringing focused attention and resources to the issue. The Commission’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Muhammad Sani Idris, brings firsthand experience and administrative capacity, having risen from an Almajiri background to earn a PhD and previously served as Commissioner for Education in Yobe State.
The Minister stressed that stronger collaboration between federal and sub-national governments remains critical to sustainably reducing the number of out-of-school children. “Reducing out-of-school children requires shared accountability, harmonised implementation frameworks, and evidence based planning across all tiers of government,” he said, acknowledging that education delivery is constitutionally a state responsibility while federal leadership sets standards and coordinates resources.
COSCEN, under the leadership of Chairman Dr. Lawal Olohungbebe, represents an institutional mechanism for this federal-state coordination. The committee has established a functioning secretariat at INEC office and is shifting from consultative dialogue to results-oriented coordination anchored on data, peer accountability, and policy harmonisation. “This platform moves us beyond discussions to structured solution sharing that aligns state innovations with federal frameworks, ensuring our complementary mandates deliver measurable outcomes for children,” Olohungbebe said.
The economic implications of the out-of-school crisis are profound and multifaceted. Each child outside the education system represents lost productivity over a lifetime, estimated by the World Bank at billions of dollars annually in foregone earnings across affected cohorts. The skills gap created by educational exclusion perpetuates poverty across generations, as uneducated parents are less able to support their children’s education. It also constrains Nigeria’s ability to compete in increasingly knowledge-based global markets, where human capital determines economic success.
Beyond productivity, the crisis imposes direct fiscal costs through social services, security expenditures, and forgone tax revenues. Out-of-school youth are more vulnerable to recruitment by criminal networks and extremist groups, driving security spending that might otherwise fund development. Health outcomes are worse among uneducated populations, increasing pressure on public health systems. The cumulative effect is a drag on economic growth that compounds over time.
The Gombe State case study presented during the webinar offers evidence that targeted interventions can succeed. Commissioner for Education Aishatu Umar Maigari presented data-driven interventions that delivered improved enrolment outcomes, demonstrating scalable models adaptable across Nigeria’s diverse education systems. Gombe’s experience suggests that political will, coordinated implementation, and sustained investment can move the needle even in challenging contexts.
The federal government’s commitment to collaborative national action, combined with COSCEN’s peer learning framework and the new Commission’s dedicated focus, creates an institutional architecture for progress that has been lacking. The challenge now is translating this architecture into measurable outcomes: increased enrolment, improved retention, and meaningful learning for millions of children currently outside the system.
For Nigeria’s economic future, the stakes could hardly be higher. The country’s demographic dividend, the potential economic boost from a large working-age population, depends entirely on whether that population is educated, skilled, and productively employed. Each year that millions of children remain outside formal education erodes that potential, locking in future poverty and constraining growth. The renewed focus on Almajiri and out-of-school children is therefore not merely a humanitarian or social policy concern but a fundamental economic strategy.
The Minister’s assertion that Nigeria is now better positioned to tackle this crisis will be tested in the coming years. Success requires sustained political commitment, adequate funding, effective implementation, and continuous learning about what works in diverse contexts. The institutional foundations are being laid; the work of building an education system that reaches every Nigerian child has only just begun.
