Obi Links Poor Human Development to Education Neglect, Calls for Broader Funding Framework

By TANKO ALI

Former presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has called for urgent reforms and stronger collaboration between government, private sector, and academia to reposition Nigeria’s education sector for national growth and global competitiveness.

Obi made the call while delivering a lecture titled “Repositioning Nigeria’s Education Sector Through Private Partnership for National Growth and Global Competitiveness” at Coal City University. He stressed that no nation rises above the quality of its education system, noting that Nigeria’s future will be determined more by the strength of its classrooms, laboratories, and research institutions than by natural resources or political rhetoric.

He decried the persistent challenges facing the sector, including chronic underfunding, inadequate infrastructure, outdated curricula, and weak linkage between education and industry. Citing global standards set by UNESCO, Obi noted that Nigeria allocates less than 7% of its national budget to education, far below the recommended 15–20%. He warned that this has contributed to youth unemployment and underemployment exceeding 30%, as well as a widening gap between graduates’ skills and labour market needs.

Obi also called for stronger government support across all tiers of education, questioning the limited scope of interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund). He wondered why such interventions are not extended to private universities, noting pointedly that they educate Nigerian students just like public institutions. “Do students in private universities come from another planet?” he asked, arguing that a more inclusive support framework would strengthen the entire education ecosystem.

Obi linked these challenges to Nigeria’s poor human development outcomes, referencing data from the United Nations Development Programme, which ranks the country 161 out of 193 nations on the Human Development Index (HDI), with a score of 0.548. He said the ranking reflects deep structural weaknesses in education, health, and living standards, adding that Nigeria’s life expectancy—estimated at about 50 to 55 years—remains significantly below global averages due to weak healthcare systems and limited access to quality medical services.