Federal Government approves ₦250bn for student hostels across Nigerian tertiary institutions – Tunji Alausa

• The Federal Government, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, will invest ₦250bn in 2026 to build hostels across universities and polytechnics.

• Projects include ₦100bn for 500-bed hostels in 50+ schools and PPP-backed hostels with up to 1,500 bed spaces in 24 institutions.

• Yaba College of Technology faces a major housing gap, with 36,000 students but only about 2,600 bed spaces.

• Lagos State University is expected to benefit, including reduced energy costs due to improved infrastructure support.

The Federal Government has set aside about ₦250 billion in 2026 for the construction of student hostels in universities and polytechnics across Nigeria, as part of efforts to tackle accommodation shortages.

Minister of Education, Maruf Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Friday during the ground-breaking ceremony for new hostel projects at Lagos State University (LASU) and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH).

According to him, the initiative is backed by the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which he said is focused on youth development and improving learning conditions.

Alausa gave details of how the funds will be spent across institutions nationwide:

“We are spending N100 billion, N2 billion each to build 500 spaces of student hotels in over 50 tertiary institutions. We are also building 24 PPP hostels with a capacity of at least 1,200 to 1,500 bed spaces across 24 tertiary institutions in the country. Of which LASU is a beneficiary. A typical example of that PPP is that the federal government TETFUND will bring one billion, and the private investors will bring another three billion.”

He added, “That translates into about another 96 billion to build 24 hostels across 24 institutions. And we are also spending another one billion to deliver at least 300 bed spaces of hostels in another 24 tertiary institutions in the country. So, all in all, cumulatively, we are spending about 250 billion naira in just 2026 alone to deliver world-class, high-standard student accommodation hostels across all our various tertiary institutions in the country, both federal and state.”

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The minister said the projects are being fast-tracked to ensure students begin to benefit quickly.

“These are projects that we are fast-tracking in a way that starts delivering comfort to the students as soon as possible. For the PPP hostels, the completion period is 24 months. For the over 200billion hostels, we have a completion period of less than 12 months.”

At LASU, Lagos State’s Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Tolani Sule, noted that the federal government’s intervention, including plans for improved power supply, could significantly reduce operational costs.

He said the university currently spends around ₦200 million annually on diesel and fuel, a burden that may ease once stable electricity is in place.

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Meanwhile, the Rector of YABATECH, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, described the institution’s accommodation crisis as critical.

“We have about 36,000 student population and we have hostel bed spaces of about 2,600. Even as we speak, we have to lock down one of the hostels having about 1,000 bed spaces for renovation. The shortfall is huge. This project is going to help us alleviate the challenge to some extent. We are thankful to President Bola Tinubu and our Honourable Minister for this gesture.”

Student housing shortages have been a long-standing issue in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, with many students forced to live off-campus under expensive and sometimes unsafe conditions. The intervention by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), alongside private sector partnerships, is expected to ease pressure on institutions and improve student welfare.

The Managing Director of the construction firm handling part of the project, Olayinka Kusemiju, also assured that delivery timelines would be met as planned.

If completed as scheduled, the initiative could mark one of the largest single-year investments in student accommodation infrastructure in Nigeria.