LET US REMEMBER!
EDITION 12
Education is one of the key areas that must be examined when assessing the development priorities of General Sani Abacha’s administration between 1993 and 1998.
In this edition of “Let Us Remember!”, Alfijir News examines federal education budgets, the Education Tax Fund, changes in the legal framework for private participation in higher education, student enrolment and some of the challenges facing Nigeria’s education system during the period.
The objective is not to praise or condemn the administration, but to establish what the historical records can actually prove.
EDUCATION BUDGETS: WHAT DO THE FIGURES SHOW?
Data from the International Monetary Fund show the following planned federal expenditure on education:
1993 — ₦6.332 billion
1994 — ₦9.435 billion
1995 — ₦12.172 billion
1996 — ₦14.883 billion
1997 — ₦16.286 billion
1998 — ₦24.614 billion
The total planned allocation for the six years was approximately ₦83.722 billion.
The figures show a substantial increase in planned federal education expenditure during the period.
However, there is an important distinction.
A budget allocation is not the same as money actually released or spent.
An increase in the budget therefore cannot, by itself, prove that schools improved, infrastructure was completed or educational outcomes became better.
There is also a historical qualification.
General Sani Abacha assumed power in November 1993, meaning the 1993 figure covers a period before his administration. Similarly, the 1998 figure covers the entire year, including months after his death in June 1998.
For that reason, the figures should not be attributed entirely to the Abacha administration.
EDUCATION TAX FUND: AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE STORY
The Education Tax Fund was established under the Education Tax Act No. 7 of 1993.
The law introduced a 2 per cent tax on the assessable profits of companies to support education.
This is another area where historical accuracy matters.
The Education Tax Fund was established in 1993, before Abacha assumed power. It would therefore be inaccurate to say that the Abacha administration created the fund.
However, the fund became an important part of education financing during his administration.
In his Independence Day address on October 1, 1997, Abacha stated that approximately ₦7 billion had been realised through the Education Tax Fund.
He also outlined the proposed distribution:
Universities — 25%
Polytechnics — 12.5%
Colleges of Education — 12.5%
Secondary education — 10%
Primary education — 40%
This ₦7 billion figure is presented here as the amount stated by Abacha in his official address, rather than as an independently verified figure from government financial records.
BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MONEY?
This is one of the questions that deserves further investigation.
According to TETFund’s historical account, the Education Tax Fund was established in 1993, while the intervention-funding system associated with the fund began operating in 1999. The Education Tax Fund was eventually transformed into the Tertiary Education Trust Fund in 2011.
This raises an important historical question:
How were the education-tax revenues collected between 1993 and 1998 managed and utilised before the intervention system that began in 1999?
Alfijir News will not claim that the entire ₦7 billion was spent on particular projects without documentary evidence showing the actual releases, beneficiaries and projects.
That distinction is essential in a historical investigation.
THE 1993 LEGAL OPENING FOR PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION
Another major development occurred in 1993.
The Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Amendment Decree No. 9 of 1993 created a legal pathway for companies and Nigerian citizens to establish higher-education institutions, subject to government requirements and minimum standards.
The National Universities Commission also had an important role in accreditation and maintaining minimum standards.
But there is another important fact.
The first licensed private universities in Nigeria came in 1999, after Abacha’s death.
The National Universities Commission lists Babcock University, Igbinedion University and Madonna University among the first private universities established in 1999.
Therefore, the accurate historical description is not that Abacha established Nigeria’s private universities.
Rather:
The 1993 legal framework opened a new route for private participation in higher education, while the first licensed private universities emerged in 1999.
That distinction matters.
STUDENT ENROLMENT: DID THE NUMBERS CHANGE?
World Bank historical data show that primary-school enrolment increased from approximately 15.87 million in 1993 to 16.045 million in 1998.
At the secondary level, enrolment also changed during the period.
University enrolment in the available dataset increased from approximately 229,000 in 1993 to 303,000 in 1998.
However, the World Bank data contain an important limitation: the university figures in that dataset did not include state universities.
Therefore, these figures can help us understand changes in enrolment, but they cannot, by themselves, prove that the quality of education improved.
More students does not automatically mean better education.
Quality requires additional indicators, including infrastructure, teaching capacity, learning conditions, academic standards, funding and student outcomes.
WHAT DID THE ABACHA GOVERNMENT SAY ABOUT EDUCATION?
Interestingly, the government itself acknowledged that Nigeria’s education system faced serious problems.
In his 1996 Independence Day address, Abacha referred to challenges affecting the education system and the need to review problems affecting education at different levels.
In his 1997 address, he claimed that greater stability had been achieved in the education sector and that the academic session had been completed without some of the disruptions experienced in previous years.
At the same time, his government acknowledged that secret cult activities in institutions of learning remained a major problem and referred to efforts to review the education system.
This gives us two sides of the historical record:
The government presented some developments as signs of improvement, while also acknowledging serious structural and disciplinary problems within the education system.
SO, WHAT DO THE RECORDS ACTUALLY TELL US?
The available evidence establishes several points.
First: Planned federal education expenditure increased considerably between 1993 and 1998.
Second: The Education Tax Fund was established in 1993, before Abacha came to power, and continued to operate during his administration.
Third: Abacha stated in 1997 that about ₦7 billion had been realised through the Education Tax Fund. However, that figure should be identified as an official statement until supported by independent financial records.
Fourth: The 1993 legal framework opened the way for private participation in higher education, but the first licensed private universities emerged in 1999, after Abacha’s death.
Fifth: Student enrolment changed during the period, but enrolment figures alone cannot establish the quality of education.
Sixth: The government itself acknowledged significant challenges within the education system.
CONCLUSION: BEYOND THE BUDGET
The history of education during the Abacha years cannot fairly be reduced to either “education improved” or “nothing was achieved.”
The records show increased planned federal education expenditure, the continuation of the Education Tax Fund, changes to the legal framework governing higher education and changes in student enrolment.
At the same time, the available evidence does not allow us to conclude that every increase in funding translated into completed projects or improved educational quality.
The bigger questions remain:
How much of the allocated money was actually released?
Which schools and universities benefited?
Which projects were completed?
How much was spent through the Education Tax Fund?
And what did students and teachers actually experience?
These are the questions that separate budget figures from real outcomes.
For Alfijir News, remembering the past is not about praising or condemning a government without evidence.
It is about examining the records, recognising what can be established, identifying what remains uncertain and continuing the search for evidence.
Let us remember — but let the evidence speak.
SOURCES
1. International Monetary Fund — Nigeria: Statistical Appendix
2. Tertiary Education Trust Fund — History of the Education Tax Fund
3. National Universities Commission — Nigerian Universities and Private Universities
4. Laws of Nigeria / PLAC — Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Amendment Decree No. 9 of 1993
5. Sani Abacha — Independence Day Address, October 1, 1996
6. Sani Abacha — Independence Day Address, October 1, 1997
7. World Bank — Historical education enrolment data, Nigeria
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