By
Princewill Oviesan Deduke
In Lagos, education is more than a government portfolio. It is the foundation upon which the future of Africa’s most populous city is being built.
With millions of children competing for space, resources and opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing megacities, the task of managing the state’s education system is enormous. It requires more than policy documents. It requires courage, data, constant supervision and the willingness to confront uncomfortable realities.
It is against this backdrop that the tenure of Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, has attracted considerable attention.
please listen to the commissioner
Since his assumption of office, Alli-Balogun has pursued an education agenda that seeks to address some of the sector’s most persistent challenges—out-of-school children, teacher quality, infrastructure deficits, weak learning outcomes, examination performance, school regulation and the need to prepare young Lagosians for a technology-driven world.
His philosophy appears straightforward: access to school must translate into quality learning.
And that philosophy has informed several interventions across the state’s education landscape.
The battle for every child
Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of the administration’s education strategy is the determination to bring children who have fallen outside the school system back into classrooms.
Through Project Zero, Lagos intensified efforts to identify, mobilise and re-enrol out-of-school children. The Commissioner reported that about 30,000 children had been returned to school, supported by grassroots mobilisation and educational materials.
The significance goes beyond the number.
Every child returned to school represents another opportunity to break the cycle of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion. For a megacity like Lagos, keeping children within the education system is not merely an educational responsibility; it is an investment in the state’s social and economic future.
When the examination results became a wake-up call
But Alli-Balogun’s tenure has not been without difficult moments.
The performance of Lagos students in external examinations, particularly the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, presented the ministry with a major challenge.
Rather than disguise the problem, the Commissioner publicly acknowledged the concerns and sought practical solutions.
The response included the Eko Learners’ Support Programme, designed to provide additional academic support to senior secondary students preparing for WASSCE and NECO.
The programme brought structured lessons and revision support in core subjects including Mathematics, English Language, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
By 2026, government figures indicated an improvement in WASSCE outcomes, with 61.52 per cent of Lagos-sponsored public-school candidates in the 2025 examination securing at least five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
For an education system serving a population as large and diverse as Lagos, the improvement represents an important step—but also a reminder that academic excellence must be sustained year after year.
Teachers at the centre of the transformation
No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers.
Alli-Balogun’s administration has therefore placed considerable emphasis on teacher recruitment, professional development and welfare.
More than 4,000 teachers were recruited during the early phase of his tenure, helping to address manpower shortages across public schools and technical institutions.
The administration has also pursued teacher welfare initiatives, including housing-loan interventions.
The broader objective is clear: make teaching more attractive, strengthen professional standards and give educators the tools required to perform effectively.
His involvement at the national level through the Governing Council of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria has further provided an opportunity to contribute to discussions around teacher professionalism and national standards.
A school system under closer watch
Another defining feature of the reform agenda is increased emphasis on accountability.
Through the Office of Education Quality Assurance, schools are receiving closer monitoring, while government has continued to enforce standards across public and private institutions.
The message from the ministry has been increasingly clear: registration alone does not guarantee quality.
Private schools are expected to meet prescribed standards, while schools that fail to comply face government sanctions.
The ministry has also taken steps against discriminatory admission practices and other forms of non-compliance.
This regulatory approach is significant because Lagos has one of the largest concentrations of private schools in Nigeria. Effective regulation is therefore essential to ensuring that children receive acceptable standards of education regardless of the ownership structure of their schools.
Infrastructure: building beyond classrooms
The physical environment in which children learn has also received attention.
Government has reported the establishment of hundreds of new primary and secondary schools during the period under review, alongside rehabilitation, expansion and upgrading of existing facilities.
In a state where population growth constantly puts pressure on available school spaces, infrastructure expansion is critical.
The challenge, however, goes beyond constructing buildings. The real measure will be whether these facilities are adequately staffed, equipped and maintained.
That is where Alli-Balogun’s broader reform agenda becomes important: infrastructure must be matched with teachers, learning materials, technology, supervision and measurable academic outcomes.
Taking Lagos into the digital classroom
Perhaps one of the most forward-looking aspects of the education agenda is the growing emphasis on technology.
The world that today’s Lagos child will enter is vastly different from the world of previous generations.
Artificial intelligence, coding, robotics, digital learning and STEM-related careers are reshaping employment and economic opportunities.
Lagos has consequently continued to encourage technology-driven learning and greater STEM participation, including efforts to expand opportunities for girls.
For Alli-Balogun, the objective is not simply to produce children who can pass examinations but young people capable of competing in a digital and increasingly interconnected global economy.
Discipline without fear
The Commissioner has also supported the state’s position against corporal punishment and promoted safer, more positive approaches to discipline.
This represents a wider change in thinking about the relationship between teachers and learners.
The modern classroom, increasingly, is expected to be a place where discipline is maintained without undermining a child’s dignity, confidence and willingness to learn.
The bigger picture
What makes Alli-Balogun’s tenure particularly interesting is the attempt to connect different pieces of the education puzzle.
Re-enrolling out-of-school children without improving teaching would not be enough.
Recruiting teachers without monitoring classroom performance would not be enough.
Building schools without improving learning outcomes would not be enough.
And introducing technology without preparing teachers and students to use it effectively would equally fall short.
The emerging strategy is therefore built around interconnected reforms—access, infrastructure, teachers, quality assurance, technology, academic intervention, regulation and accountability.
That is where the real significance of the current administration’s education agenda lies.
Beyond politics, towards legacy
Every commissioner eventually leaves office. What remains is the system that has been strengthened, the policies that survive political transitions and, most importantly, the lives changed.
For Alli-Balogun, the ultimate measure of his tenure will not be the number of press conferences held or programmes launched.
It will be the child who returned to school through Project Zero.
The teacher who received professional support and improved classroom delivery.
The student who benefited from additional lessons and eventually passed the WASSCE.
The girl who discovered STEM and realised that technology could become her career.
The school that moved from poor performance to excellence because quality assurance became more effective.
And the young Lagosian who leaves secondary school not merely with a certificate, but with the skills and confidence to compete in a rapidly changing world.
That is the larger battle playing out in Lagos education.
Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun may currently occupy the office of Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, but the real question is what he leaves behind when that office eventually changes hands.
If the reforms being pursued continue to deepen, the answer could be a Lagos education system that is more inclusive, more accountable, more technologically prepared and more relentlessly focused on learning outcomes.
In a city whose greatest resource is its people, that would be more than administrative achievement.
It would be a legacy.If you want, I can also make this more “crunchy” and magazine-like, with a headline such as **“THE MAN REWRITING LAGOS EDUCATION”** and sharper subheadings suitable for *The Guardian, ThisDay, Vanguard* or *Punch* Sunday edition.
