Sopuruchi Onwuka

Chairman of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Thursday launched a N1 trillion education fund expected to support about 1.3 million Nigerian students over the next decade, making it the largest private education intervention in the country’s history. The programme, which will cost N100 billion each year, begins in 2026 and will start with 45,000 new beneficiaries before rising to 155,000 students annually by the fourth year. Every local government area in the country is expected to benefit.

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Speaking at the launch in Lagos, Dangote said the plan aims to ease the financial pressures that force many young Nigerians out of school. He described it as a strategic investment in the country’s future rather than an act of charity. He added that the scheme focuses on the country’s most vulnerable learners and is designed to keep talented students from dropping out because of poverty.

The intervention brings together four programmes that target areas with the highest levels of exclusion. Each year, 30,000 undergraduates studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics in public universities and polytechnics will receive support. Another 5,000 students in technical and vocational institutions will receive tools, materials and other essential training support. The Foundation will also assist 20,000 public-school girls annually from JSS1 to SSS3, with continued support into tertiary education. In addition, a large-scale teacher development programme will begin with the training of 10,000 secondary-school STEM teachers before expanding nationwide.

Dangote said the initiative will run on a digital, merit-based verification and disbursement system, working with NELFUND, JAMB, NIMC, NUC, NBTE, WAEC and NECO. A steering committee led by the Emir of Lafia, Justice Sidi Dauda Bage, will oversee implementation. He also disclosed that the long-term sustainability of the programme is backed by his decision to allocate 25 percent of his personal wealth to the Aliko Dangote Foundation.

The Presidency welcomed the initiative, calling it a major boost to the government’s efforts to strengthen human capital development. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the event, said Nigeria’s growing population makes investment in education urgent. He described Dangote’s intervention as the largest of its kind and said it reflects the important role of the private sector in national development.

Education Minister Tunji Alausa said the programme supports the government’s goal of shifting Nigeria toward a knowledge-driven economy. He noted that by the end of the first decade, the girls’ scholarship component alone would have enrolled roughly 170,000 girls in school. Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, speaking on behalf of the 36 governors, also praised the initiative and said states would fully support its rollout.

Other speakers, including the Emir of Lafia, the Ooni of Ife and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, commended the scale and ambition of the plan. They described it as a transformative step that will expand opportunities for young people and improve the country’s long-term development prospects.