Nigerian industrialist and Africa’s richest man,, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has announced the a N1tn Education Fund to support 1.2 million Nigerian students.
Speaking at the launch of the fund in Lagos on Thursday, Dangote said that the fund would support 45,000 new students every year from 2026, rising to 155,000 beneficiaries by the fourth year and remaining at that level for 10 years.
He explained that the N100bn annual education support initiative, is a long-term investment aimed at reducing financial barriers that drive millions of young Nigerians out of school.
According to the statement, the programme is expected to cost over N1tn by next decade.
The scheme, he noted, is projected to reach 1.3 million students across all 774 local government areas of Nigeria and that the initiative comprises four programmes targeted at sectors where educational exclusion is most acute.
“Through the Aliko Dangote STEM Scholars, the programme will fund 30,000 undergraduate students annually in science, technology, engineering and mathematics across Nigeria’s public universities and polytechnics. Beneficiaries will have their tuition aligned to actual institutional fees.
“A total of 5,000 students in public technical and vocational institutions will receive support each year for tools, materials and essential training requirements through the Aliko Dangote Technical Scholars. This complements the Federal Government’s recent policy providing free tuition for TVET students,” the statement said.
Dangote stated that the intervention is aimed at the most vulnerable learners, noting that financial hardship, not lack of talent, is the primary reason many drop out of school.
“This is not only charity. This is a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future. Every child we keep in school strengthens our economy. Every student we support reduces inequality. Every scholar we empower becomes a future contributor to national development. Our young people are not asking for handouts.
“They are asking for opportunities. They are asking for a chance to learn, to grow, to compete, and to succeed. And we believe they deserve that chance,” he said.
He described education as “the foundation on which every prosperous society is built” and called it the most powerful equaliser and the strongest engine of social mobility.
Despite this, he warned that many talented Nigerian students continue to face financial pressures that threaten to push them out of school. Their dreams, he said, are limited not by ability but by opportunity.
“We cannot allow financial hardship to silence the dreams of our young people—not when the future of our nation depends on their skills, resilience, and leadership,” Dangote said.
Addressing young Nigerians directly, Dangote said, “Your dreams matter. Your education matters. Your future matters. We believe in you.
“We are investing in you. And we are committed to ensuring that you do not walk this journey alone.”
The Dangote Foundation, he said, would use a merit-based and fully digital system for verification, disbursement, and monitoring, working in partnership with some examination bodies like NELFUND, JAMB, NIMC, NUC, NBTE, WAEC, and NECO.
GIK/APA