The Commissioner for Tertiary Education, Mr Tolani Sule, on Wednesday, said that his ministry did not renovate any public secondary school library.

Yet, the Lagos State budget performance document revealed that the Ministry of Tertiary Education spent over N300 million in 2025 to renovate public secondary school libraries.

During the ongoing 2026 ministerial press briefing to mark the third year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the commissioner was asked the details of the 70 and 50 public school libraries the budget performance said his ministry executed, the commissioner said that his ministry did not renovate any liberty in 2025.

He disclosed that the state government, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, had advanced legislation for the establishment of a new University of Medicine and Health Sciences to address the widening healthcare manpower deficit in Lagos and Nigeria.

The commissioner said the proposed institution would significantly increase the training of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals helping to fill in the gaps in the persistent migration of medical practitioners abroad.

“Lagos requires far more healthcare professionals to match its rapidly growing population. The proposed university is a strategic response to bridge the gap and strengthen healthcare delivery,” he said.

Sule said that Lagos state owned tertiary institutions have maintained uninterrupted academic calendars for over a decade, describing the feat as evidence of the administration’s commitment to stability and staff welfare.

In a move to align education with global labour market realities, he spoke about expanded collaborations with international and private institutions, including partnerships with the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and PowerChina to strengthen technical and vocational education.

According to him, the partnerships are expected to expose Lagos students to international best practices in engineering, renewable energy, vocational training and applied technology.

The state government also intensified digital empowerment programmes through the Eko Digital initiative and Job Initiative Lagos, where thousands of students received training in digital literacy, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence.

As part of efforts to reward academic excellence, the commissioner said the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration gifted Miss Isioma Sybil Nwosu N10 million as a reward for being the overall best graduating student of Lagos State University in the 2023/2024 academic session.

(The Guardian News)

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