The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is to replicate its newly commissioned ICT Digital Experience Centres across all its more than 270 beneficiary institutions countrywide, its Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, has disclosed.

Echono made the disclosure in an interview with The Guardian at the commissioning of an ICT Digital Experience Centre at the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), Calabar, by Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

He said the initiative, being implemented in partnership with the First Lady, was designed to bridge the digital divide in tertiary institutions by providing students, particularly those unable to afford personal computers and internet subscriptions, with free access to digital devices, online resources and high-speed internet.

Echono stressed that the current rollout was only the beginning, declaring that the ultimate objective was to ensure that every one of TETFund’s more than 270 beneficiary institutions has a facility of this nature.

“We intend to cascade it to every institution. Every institution that is a beneficiary must have a centre like this on campus,” he declared.

According to him, the centres would provide students with the digital resources required for academic work, innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship and access to educational content from anywhere in the world.

“By the time we integrate these centres with our TERAS platform, they will have access to any material, any discovery and any guidance that they will need to be creative, innovative and to participate in any digital or online activity,” he said.

Echono disclosed that TETFund had commenced a phased rollout of the centres, with six facilities being commissioned in the first phase, while another 15 were expected to be completed before the end of January 2027.

He added that work was also ongoing on about 50 other facilities across beneficiary institutions, either through the upgrading of existing ICT centres or the construction of entirely new ones equipped with a minimum of 200 laptops and computers.

“All in all, we are talking about at least 63, or even more, of these facilities in the next couple of months,” the TETFund boss said.

He said the centres would be equipped with alternative power supply and 24-hour internet connectivity, allowing students to access them round the clock regardless of the availability of public electricity.

“On every campus, you will have a facility like this—an ICT centre where not only will you have the computers and the other digital resources, but you will also have 24-hour light and 24-hour data internet,” Echono said.

He emphasised that access to the facilities would come at zero cost to students, particularly those who cannot afford laptops or data subscriptions. “It’s Wi-Fi-based. You just come in here, you can connect, and even the use of the facilities is at zero cost to them. Students who cannot afford to buy their own laptops can come here and use this facility 24 hours a day. You can come and use it, do your assignment, do anything you want to do. It’s at no cost,” he said.

Echono said the initiative would go beyond conventional academic support, stressing that the centres would also provide young Nigerians with opportunities to develop digital skills, access online jobs and pursue self-employment.

The Guardian reports that the UNICROSS centre is one of six institutions countrywide selected as pioneer beneficiaries of the strategic ICT intervention under TETFund’s 2024 activities. The TETFund Board approved the establishment of an ICT Experience Centre in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones, at a cost of N1 billion per zone, with the University of Cross River State designated to host the South-South centre.

Other pioneer institutions in the pilot phase include Ekiti State University (South West); Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State (South East); Kaduna State University (North West); Kwara State University (North Central) and Taraba State University (North East).