UNGA: In Video Message, Tinubu Backs $5bn Global Education Fund

Nigeria and Italy have joined efforts to mobilise $5bn to finance education programmes globally.

Both countries will co-host a campaign under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE).

The initiative was unveiled on Wednesday at an event tagged “A New Era for Education Financing”, held in New York on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

President Bola Tinubu said the GPE financing campaign aligns with Nigeria’s agenda to improve educational outcomes through increased access and investment in teacher capacity building.

Speaking in a video message, Tinubu commended stakeholders in the GPE for their efforts to accelerate education financing worldwide.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented Tinubu at the event, said education should be treated as an investment in Nigeria’s economic future, productivity, prosperity and stability.

“For Nigeria, education is not an expenditure at the margins of our development agenda. It is an investment in our economic future, national productivity, and the prosperity and stability of our people,” he said.

“Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office in 2023, our Administration has substantially increased resources devoted to education, while pursuing reforms to strengthen basic education financing, expand foundational learning, and improve access to tertiary and technical education.

“Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, we are widening access to higher education, while strengthening the link between education, skills, employment and enterprise.”

Shettima added that Nigeria was also looking beyond traditional budgetary allocations to finance education.

He recalled that President Tinubu had directed that funds recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, once legally cleared and free from litigation, be channelled to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

He said the Federal Executive Council had also recently approved the consideration of unclaimed dividends and dormant funds for the same purpose, subject to relevant legal requirements.

According to him, the measures reflect Nigeria’s position that education financing requires the mobilisation of every responsible and lawful domestic source available.

Shettima also cited Nigeria’s partnerships with the World Bank and GPE through HOPE-EDU as an example of what international cooperation could achieve.

“The programme is expected to reach approximately 29 million children and 500,000 teachers across Nigeria.”

He said the GPE campaign would complement domestic spending on education by attracting additional financing for partner countries.

“This is precisely why GPE matters. GPE does not replace national investment; it multiplies it. The ambition before us is to mobilise US$5 billion for GPE and, through that investment, unlock additional financing for education in partner countries.

‘Domestic resources must remain the anchor, complemented by development assistance, concessional finance, philanthropy and innovative financing.”

The Vice President said Nigeria’s growing population could become one of its greatest economic assets if young people had access to quality education, relevant skills and meaningful opportunities.

He said declining global aid required “smarter multilateralism: using scarce international resources to leverage much larger investments.”

Shettima urged participants to make the campaign more than a fundraising exercise by creating “a renewed compact for human capital, bringing together national leadership, international partnership and responsible financing so that every child has the opportunity to learn, thrive and contribute to their country’s future.”

He thanked the Italian government and GPE for joining the campaign, saying Nigeria’s participation was intended to demonstrate its own commitment to education financing.

He said Nigeria was not participating merely to ask the international community to invest more in education but “to demonstrate that we are investing in education ourselves.”

In a video presentation, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised Tinubu’s leadership and Nigeria’s efforts to improve educational outcomes at all levels.

She urged partners in the global alliance to show greater commitment to reversing the decline in education financing in developing countries.