By Adeola Kunle
The Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, CON, has directed coordinators and officials overseeing deliverables under the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) to take greater responsibility for their assignments and ensure that ongoing education reforms produce clear and measurable results.
Dr. Alausa gave the directive on Friday, August 7, 2026, during the Ministerial Deliverables Meeting on NESRI held in Abuja. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Ministry to assess progress made over the past six months following the previous NESRI retreat held in February, while also identifying actions required to accelerate the implementation of outstanding reforms.
The review was centred on four major areas, including the verification of deliverables reported as completed, assessment of pending assignments and the challenges affecting their completion, setting realistic timelines for outstanding tasks, and identifying additional deliverables and emerging priorities for the Ministry.
During the meeting, officials were required to critically examine projects and assignments already reported as completed to establish whether they had actually achieved their intended objectives and could be formally closed.
The Minister emphasised that an assignment should not be classified as completed simply because work had commenced or some milestones had been reached. Rather, completion must reflect delivery of the full scope and expected outcome of the assignment.
Attention was also given to outstanding deliverables. Coordinators and responsible officials were tasked with identifying the specific challenges and bottlenecks delaying implementation and developing practical solutions to address them.
As part of efforts to improve accountability, officials responsible for outstanding assignments were expected to agree on realistic completion dates and take full ownership of delivering within the approved timelines.
The meeting also considered new deliverables and emerging priorities that may require attention as the Federal Ministry of Education continues to advance the NESRI reform programme.
Addressing participants, Dr. Alausa said the purpose of the review was not to celebrate the achievements recorded so far, but to honestly assess the level of implementation, identify unfinished work and determine how the Ministry could successfully complete the initiatives already commenced.
The Minister said the review should serve as a practical opportunity for officials to examine their progress and focus on completing the tasks before them.
Dr. Alausa commended the officials for their contributions to the education sector renewal programme, both individually and collectively. He also acknowledged the strong political commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the education sector and the support being provided by the administration to implement reforms aimed at improving access, quality and relevance in education.
According to the Minister, the mandate given to him and the Honourable Minister of State for Education remains clear: to do everything within their capacity to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality education capable of equipping them with the knowledge, skills and opportunities required to succeed.
He, however, warned officials against becoming satisfied with the progress already achieved, stressing that each milestone recorded should provide the foundation for further delivery rather than become a reason for complacency.
The Minister noted that NESRI covers several critical areas of the education sector, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), tackling the challenge of out-of-school children, girl-child education, quality assurance, data and digitalisation, among other priority areas.
Dr. Alausa maintained that the real measure of the Ministry's performance would not be the number of programmes introduced, meetings conducted or activities organised, but the actual improvements experienced by Nigerians in schools and throughout the education system.
He therefore called on programme coordinators, directors and other officials to work more closely together, maintain clear responsibility for their respective assignments and remain focused on achieving measurable outcomes.
The Minister assured Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Education would continue to pursue President Tinubu's education agenda with determination, sustain reforms already in progress and address emerging challenges affecting the sector.
He said the overall objective remained the development of an education system that provides every Nigerian child with a genuine opportunity to learn, acquire relevant skills and realise their full potential.
Adeola Kunle
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