…says TetFund has supported tertiary education with over N1.838trn

By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

The Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Architect Sonny Echono has said that there is need for Nigeria as a country to invest more in its education sector, and well as find a way of sustaining the funding of institutions in the country.

Echono, who said this, while delivering the 34th Convocation lecture of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye on Friday, explained that the future of Nigeria’s educational development should be anchored on strengthening tertiary education for sustainable national development in a post-subsidy era in Nigeria.

He said, “for the nation’s educational institutions to be competitive, the tertiary education system should derive its focus from the overarching philosophy of Nigeria, that centers on fostering unity and harmony grounded in principles of freedom, equality and justice in the face of the country’s diversity, to build a dynamic economy in a strong and self-reliant nation.

In the lecture titled, “TETFUND and Educational Development in Nigeria: The History, The Treasures and The Future”, Echono said, education sector is expected to play a crucial role in addressing the nation’s socio-economic challenges.

He said “the mechanism for strengthening our tertiary education system to achieve these laudable goals includes sustainable funding model, strengthening research capacity, autonomy of tertiary institutions, and academia-industry linkage and collaboration.

“Our Federal Universities going forward, must align their teaching and curriculum with our national strategic goals and imperatives”.

He noted that government focus is in addressing education and food security, energy sufficiency in tertiary institutions, manpower capacity building, and the commercialization of research products and public-private partnerships, stressing that all these are programmes and innovations necessary for the future of educational development in Nigeria.

The Tetfund is poised to align with these focus of the government and has allocated Intervention provisions, within the limit of available funds.

“With sustained education tax collection, diligent appropriation and prudent management by the fund and its beneficiaries; and with the support of the federal government, TETFund will continuously strive to attain the status of a world-class education interventionist agency and become a financial backbone for educational research efforts in Nigeria.

“It will endeavour to make educational content development a strong complement to the infrastructural development that has been witnessed in the past decade”.

“Its commitment to research and development, innovation, and commercialization of research products will remain unwavering.

It is the intention of the Fund to sustain and expand the national research fair, which was first held in 2024. It is the expectation of the Fund that the research fair will ultimately develop into a major national event that will significantly impact on our research activities and output as a nation that will propel and catalyse our emergence and competitiveness amongst developed nations of the world.

“The Fund will enhance the administrative efficiency and effectiveness of its activities by ensuring prudent, judicious, and prompt disbursement of approved funds. It is also determined to intensify digital transition in our schools by providing additional Information and Communications Technology (ICT) facilities to further improve teaching and learning”.

Speaking on the achievements of TETFUND between 2011 and 2024, Echono said the agency has supported funding of tertiary education in Nigeria to the tune of N1,838,747,307,222.98.

He said, “the universities have benefitted to the tune of N918,733,823,138.22, polytechnics received N461,060,365,586.06 while Colleges of Education have received N 458,953,118,498.70 making a total of N1,838,747,307,222.98.”

He explained that the intervention funds were used for infrastructural development in the country’s tertiary institutions as well as support for academic training and capacity building, research among others.

“It is estimated that a total of over 152,838 infrastructural projects has been carried out across various public tertiary institutions from 2011 till date.

“These projects include the construction of senate buildings, lecture theatres, classrooms, hostels, offices, library buildings, laboratories, road network, water and power supply and distribution, perimeter fencing of institutions, among others.”

Echono also said that TETFund has equally provided scholarships to over 42,000 scholars across institutions in Nigeria both locally and overseas, and approved nearly 150,000 academic and non-academic staff for conferences and workshops among others.