President Bola Tinubu has revealed that he worked as a taxi driver and took up several other jobs in the United States to finance his university education, describing the experience as one that shaped his understanding of the challenges students face in pursuing higher education.
The president disclosed this in a personally signed statement on Wednesday, November 4, while highlighting his administration’s education reforms and the need to provide Nigerian children with better access to learning opportunities. Tinubu said his early days in the United States were challenging, as he had to delay the start of his university education to save enough money to support himself.
“When I first arrived in the United States as a young man, I drove a taxi to earn money for my education. I even had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough,” he said.
He explained that after moving to Chicago, he took up different jobs to meet his educational and living expenses, including tuition and accommodation.
“When I eventually got to Chicago, I worked different jobs to support myself and pay my way through university. I know what it means to worry about tuition, accommodation and how to make ends meet while pursuing an education.”
According to the president, those experiences influenced his belief that access to education should not depend on a person’s financial background or place of birth. He added that every Nigerian child should have the opportunity to pursue an education and achieve their ambitions, regardless of their parents’ financial capacity.
Tinubu cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of the initiatives introduced by his administration to improve access to higher education. He said the scheme had provided more than N372 billion in student loans to cover institutional fees and students’ upkeep. The president also disclosed that the government’s technical and vocational education programme had received over 2.8 million applications. He said 38 technical colleges had been rehabilitated, while students in federal and selected state technical colleges now benefit from free tuition, boarding facilities, textbooks and uniforms.
On university education, Tinubu said his administration had reached a new agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which provides for a 40 per cent increase in academic staff remuneration and measures aimed at improving stability in the country’s university system. He stressed the importance of ensuring that students complete their academic programmes without unnecessary delays.
“A four-year course must take four years. Our young people deserve to complete their education on time and get on with their lives,” he said.
The president also highlighted investments in medical education, saying the Federal Government was committing N110 billion to the rehabilitation of 24 medical schools. He added that annual nursing enrolment had increased from 28,000 to 115,000, while admission into medical and dental programmes had risen from 5,000 to 12,000.
“Nigeria needs more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and we must build the capacity to train them here at home,” he said.
Tinubu further disclosed that more than one million children who were previously out of school had returned to classrooms. He said the government was also investing in teacher development, expanding educational opportunities for girls and introducing a new national curriculum that brings Nigerian history back into classrooms.
“Our children must know where we have come from, understand the country they belong to, and be prepared to take responsibility for its future,” he said.
The president commended the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Sa’id Ahmad, and other members of the education team for their efforts in implementing the reforms. He also announced an interactive A to Z platform for the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI), designed to provide information on government programmes, reforms and opportunities available across the education sector.
Tinubu encouraged parents, students and teachers to explore the platform at edu4pbat.ng to understand the opportunities available to them. He also urged Nigerians to report challenges affecting schools and educational institutions in their communities. He said public feedback would help the government identify weaknesses and improve the delivery of education services.
The president maintained that expanding access to education remained essential to creating opportunities for young Nigerians, adding that a child’s financial or family background should not determine how far they could go in life.
