The Federal Government says 80% of development partner money pumped into Nigeria’s education sector over the past 10 years went to just two geopolitical zones — and both still have the country’s lowest learning outcomes and highest rates of out-of-school children.
Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa revealed this Thursday at the Stakeholders Workshop on the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure in Abuja. He said the imbalance only became clear after the government started pulling all education data into one platform.
“When you’re pouring these monies into zones, what are you looking at? Don’t you look at the outcomes?” Alausa said, recounting a conversation with the World Bank.
For years, Nigeria’s education data was scattered across agencies, making it impossible to get accurate enrolment numbers or track students. That’s changing with the new Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure. The system now captures data from pre-primary to tertiary level — students, teachers, classrooms, computers, even washbasins.
“I can tell you today, the school, your primary school, your district, the number of students there, the number of boys, the number of girls, the number of teachers… Just sit in the ministry, and you will be able to have access to that data, because it’s cloud-based,” Alausa said.
The centrepiece is the National Learner Identification Number, linked to the National Identification Number. Every student gets a unique, immutable ID that follows them if they move schools or states. The goal: kill fraud, end “miracle centres,” and track dropouts.
“If a student starts school in a new state, today primary one, and that parent moves to Lagos at primary two, we will know that this student started at this school, in this local government, at this ward, in this school,” he explained.
Going forward, the data will drive planning, budgeting, and targeted interventions. The ministry also plans to use it to align university courses with labour market needs by working with the National Bureau of Statistics to identify job gaps.
Students sitting for WAEC this month will be issued learner ID numbers, with the aim of covering all students in school within months. Alausa credited the progress to state commissioners, the National Population Commission, exam bodies, and development partners, with Ernst & Young building the platform.
NEDI Coordinator Dr. Abubakar Isah said the platform ends years of fragmented reporting that left policymakers flying blind.
“Eighteen months ago, educational data in Nigeria spread across disconnected systems meant interoperability and inconsistent reporting, leaving the ministry and the nation without a unified view,” he said. “For the first time, we have a single source of truth that everybody can quote.”
The system covers formal, non-formal, and other forms of education, tracking enrolment, admission, retention, transition, and learning outcomes. It will also guide resource allocation and accountability.
Ernst & Young’s Wilfred Mamah gave a live demo showing how data from UBEC, NECO, WAEC, JAMB, and others is now consolidated and visualized. The platform also tracks infrastructure, exam performance, and student progression into tertiary institutions, including course choices.
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