The Federal Government has committed ₦220bn to medical education and training over the past two years, with a further ₦121bn earmarked for 2026 to expand medical education infrastructure across Nigeria. Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Saturday at the maiden convocation ceremony of Miva Open University, held at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, Lagos.

Alausa described the investment as among the most significant targeted interventions in medical education in the country's history. "For medical school education alone, we spent ₦220bn on medical education and training just within the last two years," he stated. The funding covered infrastructure upgrades, construction of medical simulation laboratories and rehabilitation of medical schools and student hostels. "This investment was directed to include areas of infrastructure upgrade, building medical simulation labs and rehabilitating medical schools and hostels. This is one of the largest targeted investments in medical education in the history of Nigeria," he added.

A breakdown of the spending showed that ₦72bn was allocated to 18 medical schools, with each institution receiving ₦4bn for infrastructure development and ₦1.5bn for hostel accommodation. An additional ₦40bn was directed toward the construction of eight medical simulation laboratories across the six geopolitical zones, each valued at ₦5bn.

On the planned 2026 expenditure, the minister outlined specific allocations. "Following up on our 2025 spending, in 2026, we'll be spending another ₦121bn on another six medical schools, ₦10bn for hostels, ₦24bn to expand these medical schools, and ₦56bn to equip all these 21 new medical schools across the country," he disclosed.

Alausa also announced a ₦250bn intervention for student accommodation across tertiary institutions. Under the plan, 90 institutions will receive ₦2bn each to construct 500 bed hostels, while others will access ₦4bn through a public private partnership arrangement to build between 1,200 and 1,500 bed spaces.

The minister further revealed that the Nigerian Education Loan Fund had disbursed ₦300bn within two years, benefiting 1.7 million students. A Student Venture Capital Grant Initiative was also introduced, allowing beneficiaries to access equity free grants of up to ₦50m to support innovation and entrepreneurship.

Addressing graduating students, Alausa urged them to take charge of their futures. "Do not wait for the future to approach you. Create it. Do not wait for opportunities. Build them. Do not wait for change. Be the agents of change," he said.