By Yusuf Ishaku Goje |
Northern Nigeria’s education sector is plagued by challenges, earning it a reputation for being backwards. With the highest number of out-of-school children and alarming levels of learning poverty, the region’s educational landscape is concerning. Despite receiving substantial annual budget allocations, many states fail to meet the 26% benchmark for education, exacerbating the issue.
In 2025, the nineteen Northern States have a combined approved total budget of N11.40 trillion, with N1.78 trillion – representing 15.67% – allocated to education. The education sector’s allocation is broken down into N1.09 trillion (61.15%) for capital expenditure and N694.57 billion (38.85%) for recurrent expenditure.
The North-west geo-political zone has the highest education allocation in the region, with N896.32 billion – representing 19.68% – out of a total budget of N4.55 trillion. Following closely is the North-central, with N506.04 billion allocated to education out of a total budget of N4.15 trillion. Meanwhile, the North-east allocated 14.32% of its N2.69 trillion budget, amounting to N385.45 billion, to the education sector.
Kaduna State led with N206.60 billion allocated to education, followed by Kano with N199.93 billion and Jigawa with N177.28 billion. On the lower end, Gombe, Plateau, and Taraba States allocated N53.65 billion, N49.72 billion, and N45.80 billion, respectively. In terms of percentage, Kano topped with 27.77%, followed by Kaduna with 26.14% and Jigawa with 25.38%.
A review of the 2024 full-year budget performances of the top three states, as a case study, in terms of percentage allocations to education is underwhelming. Kano State initially allocated 27.76% of its total budget to education but revised it downward to 20.08% by year-end, ultimately achieving a full-year performance of 52.33%.
Kaduna State initially allocated 25.1% of its 2024 budget to education, but this was revised down to 19.6% by year-end, with a full-year performance of 58.7%. Meanwhile, Jigawa State originally allocated 31.73% to education, revising it to 24.68% in the final budget, and achieved a full-year performance of 62.83%.
The three states’ education sector performances versus total budget performances were 17.66% for Kano, 19.00% for Kaduna, and 20.29% for Jigawa. Evidently, despite initially allocating over 25% to education in 2024, the three States revised downwards, with an average performance of 57.95% and an actual education budget performance of 18.98% versus total States’ budget performance.
To improve educational outcomes in Northern Nigeria, the State governments should shift from the rhetoric of percentage allocations to shielding these allocations during budget adjustments, ensuring at least 85% actual releases equitably distributed across priority areas, and guaranteeing value-for-money in project execution and service delivery.
Goje is an active citizen, civil society member and OGP enthusiast
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