10% Budget for Education Not Enough: Obi Tasks FG on 15% Global Benchmark

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called for an urgent and comprehensive review of Nigeria’s education funding model, warning that the nation’s current development trajectory remains unsustainable.

Delivering a lecture titled "Repositioning Nigeria’s Education Sector for National Growth and Global Competitiveness" at Coal City University, Enugu, on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, Obi asserted that no nation can achieve meaningful growth while its education system remains underfunded and structurally weak.

Obi provided a data-heavy analysis of Nigeria’s human capital deficits, noting that the country’s current Human Development Index (HDI) score of 0.548 is a direct symptom of chronic underinvestment.

He pointed out that Nigeria consistently allocates less than 10% of its national budget to education, a figure that falls significantly short of the 15–20% global benchmark required for transformative growth.

This fiscal gap, he argued, is linked to the nation’s high youth unemployment rate—which exceeds 30%—and a life expectancy that remains stagnant between 50 and 55 years.

In a statement released via his official X handle on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, Obi drew a sharp contrast between Nigeria and other emerging economies:

Economic Performance: He noted that while Nigeria’s per capita income lingers around $1,000, comparable nations like Indonesia, Egypt, and South Africa have surpassed the $3,500 threshold.

Human Development: He highlighted that these peer nations maintain HDI scores between 0.72 and 0.75, supported by life expectancies above 65 years and higher literacy rates.

Policy Consistency: Obi maintained that the disparity is "not in talent, but in priority and policy consistency," emphasizing that these nations achieved progress through deliberate investments in education and healthcare.

A key highlight of Obi's lecture was the call for more inclusive educational policies, particularly regarding the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

He argued that it is difficult to justify the exclusion of private universities from such intervention frameworks, given their active role in national capacity building.

He advocated for stronger public-private partnerships to bridge the infrastructure and research gaps currently plaguing the sector.

The former Governor of Anambra State concluded by commending the management of Coal City University for fostering meaningful national discourse.