{
  "id": 18244744,
  "title": "Tinubu: I Drove Taxi, Did Different Odd Jobs to Survive at the University in America",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/tinubu-i-drove-taxi-did-different-odd-jobs-to-survive-at-the",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T04:05:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "This Day",
    "slug": "this-day",
    "url": "https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/11/05/tinubu-i-drove-taxi-did-different-odd-jobs-to-survive-at-the-university-in-america/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Former Nigerian President Bola Tinubu shared his experiences from his student days in the United States, where he drove taxis and held various odd jobs to fund his education. In a recent post on X, @OfficialPBAT, the president challenged Nigerians to provide feedback about issues in their communities, promising to address the identified problems. Tinubu justified the introduction of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which had disbursed over N372 billion in student loans to young Nigerians, enabling them to continue their studies. He emphasized that Nigeria's path to shared prosperity must start with education and highlighted various initiatives aimed at improving the country's education sector, such as expanding outreach, enhancing teachers' welfare, and stabilizing the academic calendar. Tinubu also addressed the issue of out-of-school children, stating that over a million children have been reintegrated into the education system. He expressed his commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian child has equal opportunities to succeed and urged everyone to visit the NESRI portal for more information on the government's educational reforms.",
  "summary": "• Returns to Abuja after Umrah •Tasks Nigerians to tell him about things not working well in their areas, promises to fix identified problems • Insists nation’s journey from reform",
  "key_points": [
    "Former Nigerian President Bola Tinubu drove taxis and held odd jobs in the US to survive university.",
    "Introduced Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) disbursing N372 billion in student loans.",
    "Committed to education reforms, reintegrating over a million out-of-school children."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}