TetFund Spent N1,838 Trillion On Improvement Of Tertiary Institutions Between 2011 And 2024- Sonny Echono
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) committed the sum of N1,838,747,307,222.98 to the improvement of tertiary institutions in the country between 2011 and 2024.
Executive Secretary, TETFUND, Architect Sonny Echono, noted that the intervention funds in question were used to improve infrastructure at tertiary institutions in the country while also supporting academic training, capacity building, research among others.
‘The universities have benefitted to the tune of N918,733,823,138.22, the polytechnics received N461,060,365,586.06 while the Colleges of Education have received N 458,953,118,498.70 making a total of N1,838,747,307,222.98.
It is estimated that a total of over 152,838 infrastructure projects have been carried out at public tertiary institutions from 2011 to 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 etc’ he said.
Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Echono said this while delivering the convocation lecture during the 34th convocation ceremony of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye on Friday.
Echono, who spoke on ‘TetFund and Educational Development in Nigeria: The Treasures and The Future’, noted that TETFund has equally provided scholarships for over 42,000 scholars across institutions in the country both in the country and abroad while almost 150,000 academic and non-academic staff had gotten the go-ahead to attend conferences, workshops among others.
He recalled that the idea of establishing the agency in 1993 during the military administration headed by retired General Ibrahim Babangida was designed to address infrastructure challenges at tertiary institutions in the country which had become noticeable in the mid-1980s.
TeFund which is funded with 3% of taxes paid by registered companies in the country was later restricted to catering for tertiary institutions unlike in the past when the primary and secondary schools were also beneficiaries.
The strategic role that tertiary education plays in providing a skilled workforce for the development of any nation, he noted, underscores the impact of the various interventions made by TETFund, the success story, he added, is so huge that some African nations have since adopted the concept.
‘TETFund will continue to 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.
TetFund intends to sustain and expand the national research fair, which was first held in 2024.
It expects that the research fair will ultimately develop into a major national event that will significantly impact our research activities and output as a nation that will propel and catalyze our emergence and competitiveness amongst developed nations of the world.
TetFund 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’ he said.
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Echono emphasized the need to make the future of Nigeria’s educational development get anchored on strengthening the tertiary education institutions for sustainable national development in a post-subsidy era in Nigeria.
‘For our educational institutions to be competitive, considering the current state of the institutions and the challenges confronting the Nigerian economy, the tertiary education system should derive its focus from the overreaching philosophy of Nigeria, which centres 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’ he said.
. Echono added that the mechanism for strengthening our tertiary education system to achieve these laudable goals includes a sustainable funding model, strengthening research capacity, the autonomy of tertiary institutions, and Academia-Industry Linkage and collaborations and structural vulnerabilities,specifically focusing on the flap and landing gear systems.
‘Further investigations will include ‘detailed inspection and examination of the Right Main Landing Gear Assembly’ and ‘testing and inspection of the flap drive system components, including the transmission assemblies, universal joints, ball nuts, and flap track’ he noted-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
