By Our Correspondent

In abid to embed entrepreneurship training in the nation’s educational system,the Federal Government has moved to put Nigeria’s fragmented education data under one roof with the rollout of the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure, NEDI, a platform designed to track learners from nursery to university, cut the number of out-of-school children, and embed entrepreneurship training across higher institutions.

Speaking at the Stakeholders’ Workshop on NEDI in Abuja, Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Morufu Olatunji Alausa, said the initiative will serve as “a single, reliable source of educational data” for basic, secondary, and tertiary levels, consolidating inputs from agencies and examination bodies to drive evidence-based policy and accountability.

“For two and a half years ago, all our educational data was fragmented. We don’t even know the number of kids in our primary school,” Alausa said. “Today, that’s gone. I can tell you today, the primary school in the state, the number of students there, the number of boys, the number of girls, the number of teachers, the concentration of those teachers. And I can tell you the facilities in that primary school, just sitting in my office.”

The Minister said the he ministry has engaged Ernst & Young to design the system architecture and integration framework linking key education data sources nationwide. NEDI will aggregate data from pre-primary, primary, junior and senior secondary schools up to tertiary institutions, mapping it from school level to local government, state, and national levels.

Explaining further, he said the platform will also track infrastructure down to usable classrooms, computers, and washbasins, giving planners real-time visibility to direct investment and monitor outcomes.

Alausa disclosed that 80% of development partner and development bank financing over the last decade went to two geopolitical zones that simultaneously recorded the lowest reduction in out-of-school children.

“If we had used data before, we would have known where the investment needs to go,” he said. “Today, I’m happy to tell you that core practice is gone completely.”

He highlighted that central to NEDI is the introduction of a national Learner Identification Number, aligned with the National Identity Number system. The unique ID will contain the learner’s state, local government, school ID, year of admission, and serial number.

“Once they get into school, they have this unique ID number that will make the mutual to their national identity number,” Alausa explained. “So if a student started school in a new school today, and the parents move to Lagos, we know that this student started at this school, in this local government, at this school.”

The Minister said the system will make “miracle centers” and exam fraud unsustainable. Nigeria’s 250,000 schools will be geotagged, and officials will proactively intervene when a child drops out, instead of reacting after millions are lost to the system.

All candidates sitting for NECO and WAEC this year will receive a Learner ID, with a retroactive rollout starting from February 1. NYSC participants are also being enrolled immediately, the Minister said.

Linking Education to Jobs and Entrepreneurship, the Minister said NEDI will feed into a national skills gap analysis, matching student admissions to labor market needs at local government, state, and federal levels.

“We want to be able to guide them; What are the kind of jobs they need? Doctors, nurses, software engineers, scientists,” Alausa said. “A student in Niger State will be able to say, oh, there’s so much need for nursing, so much need for software engineering. So they’ll decide their career based on the quality of life they want.”

He announced that at the tertiary level, the Ministry is introducing entrepreneurship integration and business certification across all courses. A chemical engineering student, for example, will take entrepreneurship training throughout their five-year program.

“You want to create entrepreneurs as well as students, not job-seekers,” the Minister said. He cited recent reforms, including the elimination of the UTME requirement for Colleges of Education offering agricultural technology courses, as part of a push to widen access and raise teacher quality.

Alausa highlighted a shift in gender performance, noting that more women than men sat for the most recent JAMB exams. “Women are performing wonders in the country,” he said, addressing the Minister of Women Affairs. “This is very refreshing news.”

He thanked development partners, singling out UNICEF for saving 18 months on the digitalization agenda, and called on state commissioners, NYSC, the Federal Character Commission, and examination bodies like NECO and WAEC to ensure clean, timely data feeds into the platform.

“This will give us more improved governance. Education stands at the center of human capital development. It will be the backbone of any national economy,” Alausa said.

“We have a huge population. 70% of the population is young. We need to balance it. And what we need to do to do that is to take that very well, and if we want to take that very well, we need to have data at the center of everything we do today.”

The workshop included presentations by the NEDI coordinator and Ernst & Young on data collection, aggregation, disaggregation, and use cases. Stakeholders were invited to provide feedback before full national implementation.

The Minister says NEDI will be open to the public once fully deployed, with AI tools allowing users to query the data directly: “Whatever information you want, you just ask it.”

Speaking in her good will message, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, commended the Federal Ministry of Education for convening a Stakeholders’ Workshop on the Nigeria Education Data Infrastructure (NEDI), describing it as a strategic step to strengthen the country’s education sector.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim said the workshop’s timing is significant, coming on the eve of the International Day of Families on May 15 and ahead of the 2026 National Children’s Day on May 27.

She noted that the period underscores the link between strong educational systems, stable family structures, and protected childhoods as foundations for national transformation.

The minister highlighted NEDI as a visionary initiative to reposition Nigeria’s education sector through integrated, credible, and technology-driven data governance. She said such a system would improve national planning, learning outcomes, and inclusive educational development across all levels.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim stressed that in a country of over 230 million people, where children and young persons form a large share of the population, a harmonised education data ecosystem is critical.

She added that education remains a key tool for social protection, noting global evidence that each additional year of schooling for a girl improves health outcomes, reduces child marriage, and boosts lifetime earnings.

She pointed to the urgency of the initiative against Nigeria’s challenge of over 10 million out-of-school children, saying reliable and actionable data is needed to guide targeted interventions, equitable resource allocation, and stronger child protection mechanisms.

The minister linked NEDI to the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly the Renewed Hope Social Impact Intervention (RHSII-774) under the Human Capital Development and Social Investment pillar.

She also noted that the Federal Government’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of Family and Social Development further reinforces the initiative’s relevance.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim called the workshop more than a technical engagement, framing it as a national conversation on the future of Nigeria’s children, families, and human capital.

She reaffirmed her ministry’s commitment to collaborating with development partners and stakeholders to advance inclusive education, gender equality, child protection, and social development.

“What we do with data today determines the opportunities we create for children tomorrow,” she said, urging that the workshop mark a milestone toward ensuring “no child is invisible, no family is forgotten.”

By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna

Former Military President of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, has described the theme of this year’s study tour by participants of Senior Course 48 of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, titled “Community Engagement for Enhanced National Security and Prosperity,” as timely, apt and highly relevant to Nigeria’s current security realities.

General Babangida made this known when he received the delegation at his uphill residence in Minna, Niger State, noting that the theme reflects the urgent need for stronger collaboration between communities and security agencies in addressing contemporary security challenges.

The elder statesman, who hosted the delegation alongside former Sole Administrator of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, emphasized the importance of study tours in enhancing the knowledge base and operational capacity of senior military officers, particularly in areas relating to national security and community engagement.

He commended the Armed Forces Command and Staff College for sustaining a culture of strategic learning and professional military development, urging participants to maximize the opportunity presented by the study tour.

In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Air Commodore O.O. Obasa highlighted the enduring legacy of General Babangida, particularly his pivotal role in the establishment of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College.

He recalled that the former Military President laid the foundation stone for the establishment of the Department of Air Warfare on July 3rd, 1986 and commissioned it on July 4, 1987, describing the initiative as a landmark contribution to military training and national development.

The visit was facilitated by the Niger State Government, with the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, leading the delegation of participants to the residence of the former Military President. The SSG was represented during the visit by the Director of Administration in his office, Alhaji Abdullahi Uregi.

The visit also formed part of activities lined up for the one-week study tour of the senior military officers to Niger State and further underscored the State Government’s commitment to strengthening civil-military relations, promoting national security and supporting strategic leadership development initiatives.

The highlight of the visit was the presentation of a College souvenir to General Babangida as a mark of honour and appreciation, as well as group photographs with members of the delegation.

By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna

The Niger State Child Right Agency,(NSCRA), has reiterated its readiness to partner with the Niger State Command of National Agency for Prohibition and Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) Child trafficking and molestation in the state.

The Director General of NSCRA in Niger State,Barrister Umul Khaltume Mohammed stated this wr shile rectetaeiving the management of NAPTIP during a courtesy visit to the agency’s headquarters in Minna led by the state Commander Mr. Emmanuel Awhen.

She noted that the partnership has become imperative in view of the increasing rates of child molestation,abuse and trafficking of girl child for all sorts of labour and other inhuman treatment to girl child in the state.

According to the Director General of NSCRA, the Child Right Agency was established through an enabling legislation by the Niger State House of Assembly saddled with a legal framework to bring offenders to face the consequences of going against the established law.

She pointed out that since the establishment of the agency, it has arrested and prosecuted substantial numbers of offenders “and we are still going after any offenders”

She expressed concerned on the way and manner some parents allowed their girl child to be subjected to all forms of child labour,outside the state describing the trend as unacceptable.

Barrister Umul Khaltume Mohammed noted with disturbed that some parents deliberately send their children particularly the girl child for domestic labour,warning that the agency under her watch will continue to go after such parents with the aim of bringing them to face the full wrath of the agency.

“ I will go after any parents that engage their girl child in domestic labour. I will not fold my hands to allow such a trend in Niger State. I have a duty to ensure the protection of girl child at all times.

“ Let me sound this warning to parents that are in the habit of sending their children, particularly the girl child, for domestic labour outside the state. They should desist or they should be ready to face the full wrath of my agency” the DG declared.

While appreciating the state Commandant of NAPTIP for the visit, the Director General of NSCRA assured of the agency’s willingness to partner in ensuring Niger State free from all forms of trafficking and violence against girl child.

Speaking earlier,the State Commandant of NAPTIP Mr Emmanuel Awhen outlined the NAPTIP core duty which include employing under-12 as domestic workers which he said is a crime

The Commandant further disclosed that exploiting under-18, human organ trafficking,promoting sexual exploitation through foreign travel and human trafficking as all crimes which NAPTIP as an agency established by enabling law is saddled with the responsibility to ensure the enforcement and prosecute offenders.

He solicited for the support of Niger State Child Right Agency to collectively synergize to bring the culprits to face the law “ so that victims will get the needed Justice”