• Nigeria unveils reforms to reposition polytechnics as innovation, skills hubs

• Government to amend Polytechnics Act, allow degree awards, boost industry links

• Reforms build on mass vocational training drive under Tinubu’s agenda

Nigeria’s federal government on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026, unveiled reforms to turn polytechnics into hubs for innovation and skills development, as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda focused on job creation and competitiveness.

Education Minister Maruf Tunji Alausa announced the measures at a high-level retreat organised by the Council of Heads of Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology (COHEADS) in Abuja. The event brought together board chairpersons, education commissioners and other senior officials from the education sector.

Polytechnics must now train industry-ready graduates with practical, entrepreneurial and problem-solving skills to support economic growth, the minister said. He called for stronger private-sector partnerships and the creation of entrepreneurship centres and research labs, with greater emphasis on fields such as renewable energy, agricultural technology and digital manufacturing.

The reforms also include an overhaul of the legal framework, with an amendment to the Polytechnics Act underway to end the distinction between Higher National Diplomas (HND) and university degrees, allowing polytechnics to award bachelor’s degrees. Alausa said TETFund plans targeted support in 2026 to upgrade engineering schools with modern equipment aligned with industry needs.

The measures are part of a broader push to narrow Nigeria’s technical skills gap. In October 2025, the government launched a technical and vocational training programme that drew more than 1.3 million applications, with about 250,000 young people enrolled in centres across the country’s 36 states, according to official figures.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou