Education Minister Faults Poor Data Use in Multi-Billion Naira School Investments

Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Maruf Alausa, has criticised the ineffective use of education funding in parts of the country, blaming poor data management for years of failed interventions and weak learning outcomes.

Speaking at the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI) National Stakeholders Meeting in Abuja, the minister said a large portion of development funding directed to the education sector over the past decade failed to deliver meaningful results despite huge financial commitments.

According to him, nearly 80 per cent of donor-backed investments were concentrated in two geopolitical zones that still record some of the country’s lowest literacy and numeracy levels.

Alausa stressed that future education interventions would now be driven by measurable results and evidence-based planning through the newly introduced NEDI platform.

He explained that the Federal Government is adopting a data-focused approach to monitor how funds are spent, track outcomes, and improve decision-making across all levels of education.

The minister also disclosed that he recently questioned international development partners, including the World Bank, over the effectiveness of previous education projects in Nigeria.

According to him, education investments should no longer be based on assumptions but on verified statistics capable of improving accountability and performance.

Alausa described NEDI as a centralised database designed to unify education records nationwide after years of fragmented and unreliable data systems.

He revealed that over 32 million students from more than 220,000 schools across 21 states have already been captured on the platform.

The system is expected to integrate records from agencies including Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, West African Examinations Council, National Examinations Council and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.

A major component of the initiative is the introduction of a National Learner Identity Number, which will assign a unique academic identity to every student throughout their educational journey.

The minister added that the government also plans to integrate artificial intelligence tools into the platform to improve data analysis, monitoring and accessibility across the education sector.