The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, CON, has charged coordinators and officials responsible for the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) deliverables to take full ownership of their assignments and ensure that outstanding commitments are translated into measurable results across the education sector.
Alausa gave the charge on Friday at the Ministerial Deliverables Meeting on NESRI in Abuja, where officials conducted a six bymonth review of progress since the last NESRI retreat held in February and agreed on concrete actions to strengthen implementation of the Federal Government’s education reform agenda.
The meeting focused on four key areas: verification of completed deliverables, review of pending tasks and the bottlenecks delaying them, establishment of timelines for outstanding deliverables, and consideration of additional deliverables and emerging priorities.
As part of the review, officials examined assignments reported as completed to determine whether they had achieved their full scope and could genuinely be closed out.
The exercise was aimed at ensuring that deliverables were not considered completed merely because activities had commenced or partial milestones had been achieved.
The meeting also scrutinised outstanding tasks, with programme coordinators and responsible officials required to identify specific bottlenecks preventing completion and determine practical measures for resolving them.
To strengthen accountability, realistic completion timelines were to be established for outstanding deliverables, while officials responsible for each assignment were expected to take ownership of implementation and remain accountable for agreed targets.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to consider additional deliverables and emerging priorities requiring the Ministry’s attention as it continues to implement reforms under NESRI.
Speaking at the meeting, Alausa said the review was not about celebrating achievements but about conducting an honest assessment of what had been accomplished, what remained outstanding and what needed to be done to complete work already started.
«“Today is not about celebrating what we have done and going home. It is about looking at what we have done, what remains to be done and how we can finish what we have started,” he said.»
The minister commended officials for their individual and collective efforts in advancing the education sector renewal agenda, noting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had demonstrated strong political commitment to education and continued to provide the support required to drive reforms aimed at improving access, quality and relevance across the education system.
He said the mandate given to him and the Minister of State for Education was clear: to do everything possible to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality education that provides the knowledge, skills and opportunities needed to succeed.
Alausa, however, cautioned officials against complacency over the progress recorded, stressing that every achievement must create momentum for the next stage of delivery.
He said the NESRI implementation agenda covers critical areas of education, including Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the out-of-school children challenge, girl-child education, quality assurance, data and digitalisation, among other priorities.
The minister stressed that the ultimate test of the Ministry’s performance would not be the number of programmes launched, meetings held or activities undertaken, but the tangible improvements Nigerians experience in schools and across the education system.
He therefore urged programme coordinators, directors and other officials to strengthen collaboration, maintain clear ownership of their respective deliverables and remain focused on measurable outcomes.
Alausa assured Nigerians that the Ministry would remain relentless in implementing the President’s education agenda, sustaining reforms already underway and responding to emerging challenges.
He said the ultimate objective was to build an education system that gives every Nigerian child a genuine opportunity to learn, acquire relevant skills and fulfil their potential.
