The Federal Government has appointed the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership to the Governing Board of the Nigerian Research and Education Network (NgREN) and its Tertiary Education Research Applications and Services (TERAS), in a move aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s research ecosystem and advancing data-driven reforms in the education sector.
NgREN, the country’s research and education backbone, provides high-speed connectivity and digital infrastructure for universities and research institutions, while TERAS powers digital applications that support research, data exchange, and online learning across tertiary institutions.
The new board was inaugurated by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, during the Nigeria National EdTech Strategy Mid-Term Co-Creation Workshop, held with support from the Mastercard Foundation and the World Bank Group.
The board comprises the heads of major education regulatory agencies, including the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), and TETFund, as well as representatives of vice chancellors, rectors, provosts, and key digital infrastructure organisations such as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Galaxy Backbone, and the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF). The Athena Centre will serve as the civil society representative on the board.
Speaking at the inauguration, Dr. Alausa commended the Athena Centre for its contributions to national transparency reforms. He noted that the Ministry’s Federal Tertiary Institutions Governance Transparency Portal (FTIGTP) was inspired in part by the Centre’s research and advocacy efforts. The minister expressed confidence that the reconstituted board would deliver measurable improvements in two years to enhance Nigeria’s digital readiness.
Representing the Centre on the board, its Chancellor, Chief Osita Chidoka, OFR, praised the government’s commitment to transparency and evidence-based reforms in the sector.
Dr. Alausa reiterated the Ministry’s digital transformation agenda, noting, “For the first time, Nigeria is building a unified data architecture for basic, secondary, and tertiary institutions. You cannot reform what you cannot measure, and we are determined to measure what matters.”
On his part, Dr. Tijani highlighted the need for interoperability across digital systems, stressing that “digital transformation fails when systems operate in silos. Our priority is a national architecture where platforms talk to each other and every school is connected.”
Chidoka welcomed the government’s digital push but emphasised the need for stronger involvement from state governments, who oversee the majority of schools in the country. “For education to succeed, states must invest, lead and commit. The Federal Government must coordinate and support, but it cannot carry the burden of school management alone,” he said.
The Athena Centre reaffirmed its commitment to supporting federal and state governments in strengthening education data systems, digital governance, and transparency-driven reforms.
