05/05/2026
In Nigeria, a student can pass every exam, earn every grade, and still lose their place in school. Not to failure. To a bill they cannot pay.
The Sola Lawal EduFund was founded on a simple conviction: “Financial hardship should never stand between a capable student and a university degree.”
The statistical data tells us that;
1. 63% of Nigerians are multidimensionally poor, per the National Bureau of Statistics (2022). For these households, a university fee hike does not create pressure, it closes a door.
2. Between 2022 and 2024, many Nigerian public universities increased fees by over 200%, shifting a government funding shortfall directly onto the families who could least afford it.
3. Estimates suggest approximately 1 in 5 undergraduates in Nigerian public universities will not complete their degree. The primary cause is not academic performance. It is the financial cost of remaining enrolled.
4. Nigeria's 2025 federal education budget is just 7.3% of total government spending, less than half of UNESCO's 15% recommended minimum. When the government falls short, students make up the gap.
5. Projected:
ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke warned on Channels Television (September 2023): "If nothing is done about the heavy fees being introduced all over the country, more than 40 to 50 per cent of students in school will leave in the next two to three years." These are young Nigerians mid-journey, with everything still ahead of them.
"Educating our young people is the foundation for Nigeria's growth and development."
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Director-General & former Finance Minister of Nigeria
The Sola Lawal EduFund provides financial support to undergraduates in Nigerian public universities who are at risk of leaving—not because they lack ability, but because staying has become financially out of reach. Every scholarship we award is a completed degree. A future intact. A life not defined by what a family could not afford.
