President Bola Tinubu recalled working as a taxi driver and taking on various manual jobs in the United States to fund his university education, noting that these personal experiences shaped his administration’s commitment to expanding educational access in Nigeria.
Tinubu stated that upon arriving in the United States, he was forced to delay his university enrollment by several months to earn and save the necessary tuition funds.
The President shared these reflections in a post on his official X account on Wednesday, highlighting his administration’s policy achievements within the education sector.
He said, “When I first arrived in the United States as a young man, I drove a taxi to earn money for my education. I even had to postpone starting school for several months to save enough.
“When I eventually got to Chicago, I worked different jobs to support myself and pay my way through university. I know what it means to worry about tuition, accommodation and how to make ends meet while pursuing an education.
“Those experiences have stayed with me. I know what education made possible in my own life, and I believe every Nigerian child deserves that same opportunity, regardless of where they are born or what their parents can afford.”
President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed that education remains a central priority for his administration, highlighting that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed over ₦372 billion in student loans to cover institutional fees and living stipends.
Backstory…
Established under the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act of 2024—which President Tinubu signed into law in April 2024—NELFUND provides interest-free financial assistance to eligible Nigerian students enrolled in public tertiary institutions.
The scheme covers both tuition costs and maintenance allowances, disbursing approved institutional fees directly to the respective schools while transferring living stipends into the personal bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
