Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, says President Bola Tinubu has approved N250 billion for the construction of student hostels across tertiary institutions nationwide.
The minister said this at the inauguration of governing boards, principal officers and chief executives of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Education.
Alausa said the intervention marked the first major dedicated investment aimed at addressing acute accommodation shortages in Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
According to him, the fund will support hostel construction in at least 50 tertiary institutions, with each expected to receive about N2 billion for at least 500-bed spaces.
He added that an additional N90 billion would be deployed through Public-Private Partnership arrangements to provide hostels in 24 federal institutions with 1,200 to 1,500 bed spaces each.
Alausa explained that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund would provide N1 billion counterpart funding per institution, while private investors would contribute about N4 billion
The Minister said the President’s investment and policy direction had strengthened human capital development and positioned education as a central tool for national transformation.
He said that the Ministry had received the highest budgetary allocation in the country for two consecutive years, reflecting the administration’s focus on education reform.
Alausa said the hostel initiative was a direct response to long-standing accommodation deficits in institutions such as University of Lagos and Yaba College of Technology.
The Minister charged newly inaugurated board members to ensure accountability, strengthen oversight and improve institutional performance across agencies.
He also announced additional investments, including N130 billion for engineering and technology workshops and N120 billion for upgrading medical schools nationwide.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
