Another Act of Intellectual Sloppiness: “We Cannot Afford Free Education in Nigeria”

By Prof El-Taofik Balarabe Yusuf.

Associate Professor- University of Greenwich London.

The claim that “Nigeria cannot afford free education” is one of the most intellectually lazy clichés in our public policy discourse. It is rarely supported by rigorous economic analysis or serious consideration of national priorities. More often, it reflects a failure of political imagination rather than a shortage of resources.

Mass education is not an act of charity, it is a strategic investment in national development. Countries that have prioritised universal education have consistently achieved stronger economic growth, healthier populations, greater innovation, and more effective governance. Nations become prosperous because they educate their people, not the other way around.

Nigeria routinely mobilises resources for infrastructure, security, public administration, debt servicing, and numerous other priorities. The real issue, therefore, is not affordability but political choice. If we can finance what we consider important, we can also invest meaningfully in education.

In reality, there is no such thing as free education. Education always has a cost; the question is who bears it. Publicly subsidised education reflects society’s decision to share that cost because the long-term social and economic returns far outweigh the investment.

The chronic underfunding of education has already produced declining standards, widening skills gaps, youth unemployment, weaker institutions, and slower economic growth. These costs far exceed the price of providing quality education.

When government officials claim that Nigeria cannot afford publicly subsidised education, they are not describing an economic reality, they are revealing a policy choice. The real question is not whether we can afford to invest in education, but whether we can afford to let another generation be deprived of the knowledge and skills needed to build a prosperous nation.

Nigeria does not suffer from a poverty of resources as much as it suffers from a poverty of intellectual ambition.