Atiku Warns Tinubu: Rising Education Costs Could Create Millions More Out-of-School Children

The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reverse recent increases in education-related fees, warning that the policy could worsen Nigeria's out-of-school children crisis.

Reacting to the increase in fees for Federal Unity Colleges and reports that the Federal Government has approved a uniform ₦50,000 examination fee for candidates sitting the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations from 2027, Atiku described the measures as harsh, economically insensitive and inconsistent with government's constitutional responsibility to make education accessible.

In a statement issued on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said the decision comes at a time when millions of Nigerian families are struggling with rising inflation, soaring food prices, higher transportation costs, increased electricity tariffs, stagnant incomes and widespread unemployment.

According to him, making education more expensive under such conditions would further deny children from low-income households access to learning.

"It is unconscionable that at a time when Nigerian families are battling record inflation, soaring food prices, rising transportation costs, crippling electricity tariffs, stagnant incomes and widespread unemployment, the President Bola Tinubu administration has chosen to make education even more expensive," he said.

Atiku argued that education remains the most effective pathway out of poverty and a critical tool for national development, warning that every additional financial burden placed on parents increases the likelihood of children dropping out of school.

He noted that Nigeria already has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children globally, estimating that between 10.5 million and 15 million children and young people are currently outside the classroom.

"Any government confronted with such a national emergency should be investing aggressively to bring these children back into school. Instead, this administration is choosing policies that will inevitably swell those numbers," he said.

The ADC presidential candidate further argued that increasing fees for Federal Unity Colleges and raising the cost of WAEC and NECO examinations would disproportionately affect poor and middle-income families already facing difficult choices between food, healthcare, transportation and education.

He also questioned what he described as a contradiction in the government's education policy, saying the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) cannot compensate for financial barriers preventing students from completing basic and secondary education.

"The same administration whose policies are progressively narrowing access to public tertiary education continues to project the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) as one of its flagship achievements. Yet a university loan offers little comfort to a child who has already been priced out of secondary education or cannot afford the qualifying examination required for admission," he said.

According to Atiku, meaningful education reform should begin with affordable primary and secondary education, expanded access to tertiary institutions and policies that ensure poverty does not prevent children from receiving an education.

He warned that no country has achieved sustainable economic growth by reducing access to education, insisting that nations seeking long-term development invest more heavily in human capital during difficult economic periods.

The former vice president called on President Tinubu to immediately reverse the increase in Unity School fees and the proposed WAEC and NECO examination fees and convene an urgent stakeholders' dialogue on sustainable financing for public education.

He also pledged that an ADC administration would reverse policies that make education unaffordable, expand access to quality education at all levels, increase the carrying capacity of tertiary institutions and ensure that every Nigerian child has an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of economic background.