Favour Ishember, Abuja
The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa has told coordinators and officials handling the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative deliverables to fully claim responsibility for their work, keep up the pace of ongoing reforms, and convert all pending commitments into clear, measurable outcomes across the country.
Dr. Alausa issued the directive on Friday, August 7, 2026, during the Ministerial Deliverables Meeting on NESRI in Abuja. At the meeting, officials carried out a six-month progress review following the last NESRI retreat in February and mapped out specific steps to deepen the implementation of the education reform plan.
Discussions centered on four priorities:
Confirming completed deliverables, checking that reported completions met the full scope and could be properly closed.
Reviewing pending tasks: pinpointing what was still outstanding and the obstacles slowing them down,Setting deadlines: agreeing realistic timelines for unfinished items,
In the review, the team assessed projects marked as completed to verify they had delivered full value, not just that work had started or partial milestones were reached. The goal was to avoid counting activity as completion.
For outstanding assignments, programme coordinators and lead officials were asked to name the exact bottlenecks blocking progress and propose practical solutions to clear them.
To boost accountability, the meeting agreed that every pending deliverable would get a realistic completion date. Officials in charge were expected to take direct ownership and answer for the targets set.
The session also opened space to identify new deliverables and fresh priorities as NESRI implementation continues.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Alausa said the purpose was not to celebrate past work, but to take a frank stock of what has been done, what is left, and how to finish it.
“Today is not about celebrating what we have done and going home. It is about looking at what we have done, what remains to be done and how we can finish what we have started,” he said.
The Minister praised officials for their individual and team contributions to the renewal agenda. He noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has shown strong political will for education and continues to provide backing needed to drive reforms focused on access, quality, and relevance.
He restated the mandate given to him and the Honourable Minister of State for Education: to ensure every Nigerian child can access quality education that equips them with knowledge, skills, and opportunities to thrive.
Dr. Alausa warned against complacency, stressing that each achievement should fuel the next phase of delivery.
He highlighted that NESRI covers critical areas including Technical and Vocational Education and Training, STEM, addressing out-of-school children, girl-child education, quality assurance, and data and digitalisation, among other priorities.
According to the Minister, the true measure of the Ministry’s performance will not be how many programmes were launched, meetings held, or activities carried out. It will be the real improvements Nigerians see in schools and across the system.
He urged programme coordinators, directors, and other officials to deepen collaboration, maintain clear ownership of their assignments, and stay focused on results that can be measured.
Dr. Alausa assured Nigerians that the Ministry will remain steadfast in delivering the President’s education agenda, sustaining current reforms, and responding to new challenges. The end goal, he said, is an education system that gives every Nigerian child a real chance to learn, gain relevant skills, and reach their full potential.
