SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF INFORMATION AND NATIONAL ORIENTATION, MOHAMMED IDRIS, FNIPR, AT THE 2026 TETFUND NORTH CENTRAL ZONAL TOWN HALL MEETING, HELD AT THE BANQUET HALL, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, LOKOJA, KOGI STATE, ON THURSDAY, 20 AUGUST 2026
PROTOCOLS
It is a pleasure to be here in Lokoja today for this important TETFund North Central Zonal Town Hall Meeting.
Let me begin by thanking the management of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund for creating this platform for direct engagement with the institutions and stakeholders that are at the heart of Nigeria's tertiary education system.
A town hall is important because development cannot be effectively planned from Abuja alone. Those who teach in our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, those who manage these institutions, and the students who pass through them every year, understand their challenges and opportunities in ways that statistics and reports alone cannot capture.
Tertiary education is not simply about producing graduates. It is about producing the teachers, doctors, engineers, scientists, entrepreneurs, researchers, administrators and skilled professionals who will build the Nigeria we want.
For the North Central, this responsibility is particularly important because the region possesses a unique combination of vast landmass, agricultural resources, mineral wealth, energy potential and strategic location. Niger State, for example, is Nigeria's largest state by land area, while Benue is one of the country's major agricultural centres. Kogi's position at the confluence of the Niger and Benue Rivers gives it significant commercial and logistical potential, while Nasarawa and Plateau have substantial mineral and agricultural resources. Across the region, these assets create enormous opportunities in agriculture, agro-processing, mining, energy, manufacturing, tourism and services.
Our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education must therefore be closely connected to these opportunities, producing the scientists, engineers, agricultural experts, technicians, entrepreneurs and other professionals required to unlock them. The North Central Development Commission provides an additional framework for coordinating development across the region, and our tertiary institutions must be active partners; not only producing graduates, but generating the research, innovation and skills needed to transform the region's vast resources into jobs, enterprise and sustainable development.
This is why the Renewed Hope Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has continued to place human capital development at the centre of its national development agenda.
One of the important instruments through which this commitment is being translated into practical action is TETFund.
The 2026 intervention reflects the scale of that commitment. TETFund has approved allocations of approximately ₦2.53 billion for each public university, ₦1.87 billion for each polytechnic and ₦2.06 billion for each College of Education under the 2026 intervention.
These are not simply budgetary figures. They represent laboratories that can be equipped, lecture halls that can be built, libraries that can be modernised, research that can be supported and students who can learn in better environments. And we have seen this commitment translated into physical projects.
As part of the third anniversary activities of this administration, President Tinubu commissioned a number of TETFund-funded tertiary education projects across the country, including projects in the North Central. At the Nasarawa State College of Education, Akwanga, for example, the President commissioned a new School of Science Complex designed to strengthen the institution's capacity to train science teachers.
This is the kind of investment that matters because the quality of our education system ultimately determines the quality of our workforce.
But we must also be honest with ourselves. The challenge before Nigerian tertiary education today is no longer simply about constructing buildings. We must ask what happens inside those buildings.
Are our institutions producing graduates with the skills employers need? Are our universities and polytechnics solving problems in agriculture, healthcare, energy, technology and manufacturing?
Are our researchers connected to industry? Are we commercialising our innovations? And are our young people leaving our institutions prepared not only to look for jobs, but also to create value and generate employment?
These are the questions that I hope this town hall will confront.
The North Central region has enormous opportunities in this regard. Our agricultural economy requires research into improved seeds, irrigation, mechanisation, food processing and storage. Our mineral resources require scientific research, responsible extraction and local value addition. Our growing cities require expertise in construction, transportation, technology, environmental management and urban planning.
Our institutions must therefore become more closely connected to the economic realities of their communities.
We also need stronger partnerships between tertiary institutions and the private sector. Industry should not be an occasional visitor to our campuses. It should be a partner in curriculum development, research, technical training and innovation. This is particularly important for our young people.
The Federal Government's investments in education extend beyond infrastructure. Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, thousands of Nigerian students are receiving financial support to pursue tertiary education. The objective is to ensure that financial circumstances do not permanently shut a young Nigerian out of educational opportunity.
We are also expanding technical and vocational education, digital skills and entrepreneurship opportunities because the economy of the future will require a broader range of skills.
Education policy must therefore respond to the world as it is becoming, not simply the world as it was.
Artificial intelligence, automation, digital platforms and emerging technologies are already transforming the workplace. Our institutions must prepare Nigerian graduates to participate in that transformation rather than be displaced by it.
There is also a national dimension to all of this. A young Nigerian who acquires a good education, a useful skill and a genuine opportunity is less vulnerable to criminality, extremism and hopelessness. Education is therefore not only an economic investment; it is an investment in national security and social stability.
This is why I commend TETFund for bringing this conversation directly to the zones. The North Central Town Hall should not end with recommendations that remain on paper. It should produce practical priorities, clear responsibilities and measurable outcomes.
I encourage our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to use this opportunity to speak frankly about what is working, what is not working and what needs to change.
I also encourage TETFund to continue strengthening transparency, monitoring and accountability in the deployment of intervention funds. Nigerians must be able to see the value created by every naira invested in tertiary education.
I therefore welcome this initiative and commend TETFund for bringing stakeholders together in the North Central.
I look forward to the recommendations that will emerge from these deliberations and, more importantly, to seeing those recommendations translated into action.
I wish you fruitful deliberations.
Thank you.
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