The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has dismissed concerns over a growing wave of Nigerian students seeking education abroad, insisting that the trend has declined significantly under the current administration.
Alausa made the disclosure on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, during an interview on Channels Television, where he attributed the development to improved academic stability and increased confidence in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Responding to claims that Nigeria ranked third globally in outbound student mobility in 2023, accounting for about five per cent of global student movement behind China and India, the minister said the figures were outdated and no longer reflected the current reality.
“That’s not Japa. And please, qualify your data. Thank God you told me it was 2023 figure,” he said.
According to Alausa, 2023 coincided with a period when Nigeria’s education sector was grappling with prolonged academic disruptions, inconsistent school calendars and inadequate investment in tertiary institutions.
“2023 was when we came in. There was no academic continuity. They had the kind of extensive investment you’ve made in tertiary education that wasn’t there,” he stated.
The minister said the Federal Ministry of Education had monitored outbound student movement through its educational support services department and recorded a sharp decline in the number of Nigerians travelling overseas for studies.
“We’ve seen a precipitous drop in the number of students going out. Our tertiary institutions are better now. We have academic continuity, academic session continuity,” he said.
Alausa also pointed to the growing popularity of the Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board programme, popularly known as JUPEB, as evidence of renewed confidence in local educational opportunities.
According to him, the programme, Nigeria’s equivalent of the British A-level qualification, was previously dominated by students seeking admission into foreign universities but is now heavily patronised within the country.
He further cited the Law programme at University of Lagos and other leading institutions as examples of schools experiencing overwhelming demand from applicants.
“Kids are staying there. The quality of education is significantly better. If you now compare the 2023 data with 2024 and 2025, you will see the precipitous drop of Nigerians going out,” the minister added.
