President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that the Government of Nigeria has budgeted the sum of N470 billion for the revitalization and salary increases of tertiary institutions in the 2023 budget. This is an issue of contention among teachers who are currently on strike as they negotiate with the Government.
Buhari disclosed this on Friday as he presented the proposed N20.5 trillion budget to the National Assembly.
He also noted that Nigeria needs to introduce a more sustainable model of funding tertiary education.
What he said:
Buhari noted that the FG has noted with sadness the crisis that has paralyzed the activities of public universities in the country, saying that the FG expects the staff of these institutions to show a better appreciation in the current state of affairs in the country.
“In a determined effort to resolve the issue, we have provided a total of N470.0 billion in the 2023 budget from our restricted resources, for the revitalization and salary increases of tertiary institutions,” he added. .
He added that the Government alone cannot provide the resources needed for funding tertiary education.
“In most countries, the cost of education is shared between the government and the people, especially at the tertiary level.
“Therefore it is necessary that we introduce a more sustainable model of financing tertiary education.
He added that the FG is committed to implementing the agreements reached with the staff unions within the available resources.
“This is why we remain determined that we will not sign any agreement that we cannot implement. Individual institutions will be encouraged to keep faith with any agreement reached in due course to ensure the stability of the education sector.
“As human capital is the most critical resource for national development, our overall policy objective is to expand our investment in education, health, and social protection” he added.
What you should know
In the 2023 Budget, The total allocation of FG of the Ministry of Education is N1,078,421,185,229, with staff cost of N706,485,320,329
The National Universities Commission was allocated a total sum of N30,058,742,866
As the University of Ibadan allocated N19,285,892,943 and the University of Lagos N22,371,948,501
Meanwhile, the University with the highest allocation is the University of Nigeria, Nsukka at N29,362,671,106