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Claim: An X user, @TemidayoOniosun, recently stated that primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Nigeria is free.
Verdict: Misleading! While government-run primary, secondary, and territory schools may not necessarily require payment of tuition fees, students are still charged some compulsory fees without which they are denied access to learning.
Full Text
On Sept. 15, primary and secondary schools in Nigeria resumed from the long vacation. Some parents took to social media to lament the increasing cost of school fees, textbooks, and other essentials needed by their children for the new academic session.
The development comes amid rising social media complaints about tuition hikes by some tertiary institutions. For instance, some social media users called out the University of Ilorin over its tuition for the 2025/2026 academic year.
This user @theiyanuoluwa__wrote, “UNILORIN don Dey turn private-federal university. The tuition fee increase is crazy, mehn.”
Another user @Uilgist stated, “BREAKING! UNILORIN students break down in tears for the risk of being a dropout over the outrageous hike in school fees payment. Returning students are paying over 200k while the final year students are paying over 100k.”
In a related development, the Student Union Government of the University of Benin issued a statement addressing a viral claim that over 5,000 students who had not paid school fees would be denied access to examinations.
Reflecting on education in Nigeria, X user @TemidayoOniosun claimed education in government-owned schools is free from primary to secondary level in Nigeria. He encouraged parents to enrol their children in public schools if they cannot afford private education.
The user’s comment was in response to a tweet by @DebbieOA, who noted that many families find it difficult to pay their children’s school fees. To buttress the tweet, @__DebbieOA had cited the struggles of a family with five children who were unable to pay their school fees.
Quoting the tweet, Temidayo tweeted, “Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Education is still FREE in Nigeria. If you cannot afford private education, go to public schools.”
However, many users disagreed with him in the comment section, sharing their experiences in public schools.
Access to education has remained a subject of interest among stakeholders in recent years, especially following a UNICEF report that showed Nigeria has approximately 18 million out-of-school children.
Given the topic’s relevance, DUBAWA probed the X user’s claim to ascertain its veracity.
Verification
A keyword search revealed a 2023 report in which the presidency confirmed that tuition remains free in all Federal Universities. The government explained that what was commonly regarded as tuition fees in these schools were usually optional fees assessed by each university for services, including lab use, registration, and hostel lodging.
Although the Nigerian government described these fees as optional, federal universities tag them ‘obligatory fees’ and mandate students to pay the set amount.
It is worth noting that the Nigerian government only addressed Federal Government-owned universities as tuition-free, without commenting on state-owned universities.
Checks have shown that students in government-owned schools still pay various forms of compulsory fees, which contradicts the narrative that they are entirely free of charge.
For instance, Federal Government Colleges in Nigeria offer tuition-free education. Still, students are expected to cover the costs of uniforms (for new students), textbooks, exercise books, medical fees, and utility bills, among other expenses. The fees paid by new boarding students in these colleges increased from N45,000 to N100,000 in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian government has recently announced that Federal Technical Colleges in the country are not only tuition-free, but the government will also cover the extra costs once paid by the parents/guardians of the students. However, boarding school students are expected to bring certain essentials that will be needed during their stay in the boarding house.
Findings for government-owned primary schools in Nigeria indicate that tuition is entirely free; however, parents still incur expenses for levies such as PTA fees, development levies, and school uniforms, among others.
These other payments constitute school fees, which are a comprehensive fee charged by the school for students to access its facilities, among other things. Tuition refers to the money paid by students to attend a college or university.
While students in Federal primary, secondary, and tertiary schools do not pay tuition fees, they are still required to pay certain charges, and failure to do so may attract some consequences.
For instance, students in Federal Universities must pay an acceptance fee (or clearance charges) before they can become bona fide students of the institution. Those unable to pay this amount before the set date may either attract a penalty of additional payment or lose their admission.
While Nigeria’s federal tertiary institutions are relatively affordable compared to their international counterparts, the Nigerian educational sector remains vastly underfunded.
In the 2025 Nigerian budget, about 6.4% of the revised N54.99 trillion budget was allocated to education. This indicates a drop from 8.21% in 2024.
State Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education all charge tuition fees, but payment may differ for residents and non-residents, as seen here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion
The claim that education is free at all levels in Nigeria is misleading! The entire cost of education may have been subsidised for those who attend public schools, but they are still charged fees for other services besides tuition.
