The Federal Government and 22 of the 36 states of the country have allocated N6.131 trillion of their 2025 budgets to education.
The figure amounts to a paltry 9.27 per cent of the N66.111 trillion they plan to spend next year. And it is far below the recommended benchmarks of Nigeria, the World Bank, and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.
UNESCO recommends that national and sub-nation governments should devote 26 per cent of their budgets to education. The World Bank recommends 20 to 30 per cent while Nigeria’s National Policy on Education provides that no less than 26 per cent of the Federal and state government’s budgets should be allocated to education.
Currently, 33 of the 36 states have announced their budgets. Imo, Kwara and Rivers are yet to present their 2025 appropriation proposals.
Of the 33 states, only 22 announced what they they would spend on education going by information on their websites and what the governors read at their Houses of Assembly.
Among the 22 states, only four – Enugu (32.99 per cent), Kano (31 per cent), Jigawa (26.4 per cent), and Kaduna (26.14 per cent) met UNESCO and Nigeria’s 26 per cent benchmark.
Abia (20 per cent), Nasarawa (20.43 per cent), Oyo (21.4 per cent), and Sokoto (25 per cent) met the World Bank’s 20 per cent minimum standard.
Like the Federal Government (7.08 per cent), states that made the least allocations to education (see table) are Lagos (6.93 per cent), Delta (6.89 per cent), and Bayelsa (6.83 per cent).
