Nigeria, European Union Launch €40m Education Project In Northwest

Federal government, in partnership with the European Union (EU), has inaugurated a National Programme Steering Committee (NPSC) to oversee the €40 million Education and Youth Empowerment in Northwest Nigeria (EYEPINN) programme.

The programme, which is being implemented in Jigawa, Kano, and Sokoto States, aims to tackle out-of-school children, facilitate teacher development, and promote youth skills acquisition in the Northwest region.

The committee, chaired by the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and co-chaired by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, will meet annually to provide strategic guidance, with a secretariat handled by the EU Technical Assistance Team (EU-TAT). Also, quarterly technical meetings are planned to monitor progress closely.

Speaking in Abuja during the committee’s official inauguration, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education Abel Enitan praised the EU’s unwavering partnership and investment in Nigeria’s education sector, which has continued to improve access, equity, quality, and system resilience.

The Permanent Secretary, represented by the Director of Poly Education and Allied Institutes, Dr Usman Ejeh, said, “The EYEPINN project represents one of the most strategic interventions aimed at addressing the persistent challenges of out-of-school children, teacher capacity development, safe learning environments, and skills acquisition for youths in Nigeria’s Northwest region.

“The EU’s continued support through programmes such as EYEPINN and Expand, Integrate and Strengthen Systems (EISS), reflects a shared commitment to empowering our young people and ensuring that every child, irrespective of gender or background, can learn and thrive.”

Highlighting the committee’s role in ensuring accountability and integrating results into national policies, he added, “The committee serves not only as a platform for oversight but also as a forum for strategic dialogue to ensure that the collective efforts of all partners are coherent, complementary, and impactful. The success of EYEPINN depends on how well we collaborate with federal, state, and local governments, working hand-in-hand with our international partners.

“We must ensure that every Euro invested translates into measurable impact, better learning outcomes, empowered teachers, safer schools, and a more resilient education system that leaves no child behind.”

In her remarks, Leila Ben Amor Mathieu, team leader for human development at the European Union delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, highlighted the programme’s significance as the delegation’s first standalone education initiative.

“This is the EU Delegation to Nigeria’s first project solely on education. It is our flagship project. We hadn’t had any before. We really wanted it to be designed in tune with the ministry and to serve the needs of Nigerian people,” she said.

Stating that the project aims to address existing gaps in basic education, she said, “This is a €40 million project that we fund through UNICEF, Plan International, DIME, and some technical assistance provided to the ministry. We would have loved to add secondary education, but we stopped at basic education, specifically targeting out-of-school children, nomadic education. We worked with the Quranic schools.”

UNICEF’s Chief of Education, Vanessa Lee, described the programme as timely, “It came at a critical time in Nigeria’s education reform progress to support both the Federal and the State Ministries of Education and Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) and State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) in transforming the education system.”

Country Director of Save the Children International, Duncan Harvey, added, “This is indeed an important step that will encourage and improve the leadership of the overall programme. Every child, no matter their status, no matter where they are living, no matter their gender, ability or disability, deserves the right to quality basic education.”