President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday said Nigerians now enjoy far greater access to education and healthcare than they did at independence in 1960.

In his nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 65th Independence anniversary, the president highlighted the country’s progress in the education sector, noting that Nigeria had only 120 secondary schools with about 130,000 students at independence. Today, he said, the figure has risen to over 23,000 secondary schools.

He further noted that Nigeria started with just two tertiary institutions—the University of Ibadan and Yaba College of Technology—at independence, but now boasts over 274 universities, 183 polytechnics, and 236 colleges of education. “We have experienced a significant surge in growth across every sector of our national life since Independence – in healthcare, infrastructure, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, information technology, aviation, and defence, among others,” Tinubu declared.

Despite the progress, the education sector continues to grapple with funding shortages and labour unrest. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently gave government a two-week ultimatum to address long-standing demands, including the renegotiation of a 16-year-old agreement. At the basic education level, Nigeria still carries one of the world’s highest burdens of out-of-school children, with estimates ranging from 13 million to 20 million. Rising insecurity and chronic underfunding have worsened the situation.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s journey since independence, the president said the country has weathered civil war, military rule, and political crises, yet remained resilient. “While our system and ties that bind us are sometimes stretched by insidious forces opposed to our values and ways of life, we continue to strive to build a more perfect union where every Nigerian can find purpose and fulfilment,” he said.