From the NELFUND Revolution to the ‘TIN’ Turmoil—The Defining Forces That Transformed Nigeria’s Education Landscape This Year

As the curtain falls on 2025 and Nigeria enters a new fiscal year today, Thursday, January 1, 2026, the education sector emerges as one of the most volatile yet reform-heavy theaters of the Tinubu administration. From groundbreaking financial shifts to curriculum overhauls, the past twelve months have fundamentally altered how Nigerians learn and pay for school.

The Loan Revolution and the Tax Wall

The biggest story of 2025 was undoubtedly the full-scale rollout of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). For the first time, the “indigent student” narrative shifted from one of despair to one of digital application. However, as the year closed, this success was met with a significant obstacle: the 2025 Tax Reform Act. The requirement for all loan applicants to possess a Tax Identification Number (TIN) sparked a nationwide debate, with NANS threatening protests just last week. Critics argue that linking education to the tax net prematurely could create a barrier for the very students the loan was meant to save.

Skills Over Certificates

September 2025 marked the death of “theory-only” education. The Federal Ministry of Education launched a revised curriculum that made vocational skills—ranging from digital marketing to plumbing and solar installation—a core requirement for graduation. This shift was a direct response to the 14.45% inflation rate and high youth unemployment, aiming to produce graduates who are “employers of labor” rather than job seekers.

The ASUU “Cold War”

While the frequent blackouts on university campuses were largely avoided this year, the relationship between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) remained frosty. The “No Work, No Pay” saga of previous years evolved into a technical battle over the new payment platforms and the autonomy of university senates. Though classrooms remained open through December, the union has entered 2026 with a “wait-and-see” approach regarding the implementation of the 2026 budget allocations.

“2025 was the year we stopped talking about the problems of education and started digitizing the solutions. But as we see with the TIN controversy, the integration of different sectors—tax, finance, and school—still has a long way to go.” — Dr. Aminu Maida, Education Policy Analyst

Security and the Safe School Initiative

The shadow of insecurity continued to loom over the sector. In 2025, the government intensified the Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre, deploying specialized security units to over 1,200 vulnerable schools. While the frequency of large-scale abductions decreased, the “ransom economy” remained a major concern for parents in rural corridors, shaping school attendance patterns throughout the year.

As we move into 2026, the education sector stands at a crossroads. The success of the “NELFUND era” will depend on whether the government can decouple student welfare from the complexities of the new tax laws, and whether the ₦2.1 trillion education budget will finally translate into physical improvements in the nation’s crumbling lecture halls.