Former Presidential candidate of the Labour Party within the 2023 Presidential election, Peter Obi, has raised severe considerations over the standard of Nigeria’s schooling system, following the discharge of the most recent Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) outcomes by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
In an announcement posted on his official X (previously Twitter) web page, Obi described the efficiency as “a mirrored image of the deep-rooted challenges in our academic system.”
Obi tied the poor UTME efficiency to what he termed a long time of neglect and underfunding in Nigeria’s schooling sector.
“The newest JAMB outcomes as soon as once more spotlight the implications of a long time of underinvestment in schooling, a sector that ought to be central to our nationwide growth technique,” he said.
The 2025 UTME outcomes have revealed a worrying pattern in pupil efficiency nationwide. Out of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the examination, solely 412,415 candidates (21.5%) scored above 200, the extensively accepted minimal rating for college admission.
“At present, Nigeria’s whole college enrollment stands at roughly 2 million college students. By comparability, the Nationwide College of Bangladesh — a single college — has over 3.4 million college students enrolled, regardless of the nation having solely about 75% of Nigeria’s inhabitants. One college in Bangladesh surpasses the complete college enrollment in Nigeria.
Bangladesh, which as soon as lagged behind Nigeria in nearly each measurable growth index, now surpasses us in all key areas of growth and within the Human Improvement Index (HDI).
Equally, Turkey, with a inhabitants of about 87.7 million individuals, has over 7 million college college students — greater than 3 times Nigeria’s whole college enrolment,” he mentioned
Instrument towards poverty
Peter Obi emphasised that schooling mustn’t merely be seen as a service however as a key lever of {economic} and social transformation.
“I’ve persistently mentioned it: schooling is not only a social service; it’s a strategic funding. It’s the most crucial driver of nationwide growth and essentially the most highly effective software for lifting individuals out of poverty,” he famous
Obi urged each federal and state governments to deal with schooling as an pressing nationwide precedence, stressing the necessity for aggressive funding in any respect ranges to construct a affluent, safe, and equitable Nigeria.
