The Federal Government has commended the Chairman of the Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) and the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, for unveiling a ₦100 billion annual education support programme.
The scheme is aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s educational sector and expanding access to quality learning for young people nationwide.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, gave the commendation on Thursday while flagging off the Aliko Dangote Foundation Education Scholarship Initiative, in Lagos.
The programme, projected to cost ₦1 trillion over the next ten years, will support students across multiple levels through a range of targeted schemes.
Speaking, Senator Shettima called on the private sector and corporate entities to invest in education, insisting that they must consider themselves as stakeholders in the survival of Nigeria’s education system.
Affirming that there was no better time than now to confront the “consequences of demographic acceleration,” VP Shettima said, “A youthful population is a global asset only when it is educated. Without education, it becomes a threat to itself and to the nation that houses it.
“We come from a difficult history. Formal education was once treated as an intrusion. It was seen as an affliction. It was seen as a scheme to estrange children from their heritage. The residue of that suspicion, the gap that misunderstanding created, still weighs heavily upon our national progress.”
The VP, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, pointed out that, rather than expecting a miracle or mere rhetoric to close and erase the gap created by such misunderstanding, deliberate effort must be made “to end a needless cycle of failure that has persisted for far too long.”
This, he said, inspired President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to roll out bold and far-reaching reforms, including the introduction of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, to create equitable access to education for all under his watch.
“We strengthened to deepen basic education infrastructure and accountability. We expanded intervention footprint to revitalise tertiary institutions. We accelerated our Technical and Vocational Education and Training programmes to reflect the needs of a new economy. We also mainstreamed digital learning as a core national priority,” he added.
The Vice President decried what he described as the “reality of West Africa as the region that now carries the burden of having the lowest Human Capital Index in the world,” stating that Nigeria must invest in education to reverse the trend.
“We must treat education as a survival strategy. This is why our administration treats the National Human Capital Development Programme as a national emergency. We are bringing states, development partners, the private sector and civil society together to reclaim our destiny,” he said.
The VP described the Founder and President/CEO of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Dangote, as standing apart, saying “in a nation that has produced giants, he remains a colossus.
Applauding the 100 billion annual education support scheme, he said, “His (Dangote’s) philanthropy is not episodic. His philanthropy is structural. His philanthropy is generational. His philanthropy is visionary. He is not only the largest private employer of labour in Nigeria. He has also become the most consequential private investor in the rescue of our most critical sector, education,” he said.
