Nigeria: Senate Passes Bill to Increase Funding for Unity Colleges, Armed Forces Schools

What the report says

Nigeria’s Senate has passed an amendment to the National Senior Secondary Education Commission Act aimed at increasing federal funding for unity colleges and armed forces senior secondary schools, while also tightening their administration. The bill was considered in Abuja after a committee review and a public hearing, according to Premium Times, which said lawmakers approved it by voice vote under the deputy senate president, Barau Jibrin.

The proposal, introduced as an executive bill by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, is intended to give the government a more direct role in tackling long-running problems in public senior secondary education. These include weak infrastructure, shortages of learning materials and broader funding gaps in schools across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The amendment also sets operational guidelines for how funds should be coordinated with the National Senior Secondary Education Commission and other authorities.

The reported changes further adjust the composition of state education boards, requiring representation from each senatorial district in a state and ensuring at least one woman among the three appointees. Committee member Orji Kalu told the chamber that stakeholders, including the education ministry, teachers’ unions and other groups, took part in the hearing before the panel recommended passage.

The development comes amid wider concern about underfunding in Nigeria’s public education system. Premium Times noted that recent debates over the management and financing of federal unity colleges, including a disputed concession plan involving King’s College, Lagos, have intensified scrutiny of how the schools are maintained and funded.