Politics, corruption bane of education in Nigeria, says TETFund boss

Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has advocated a process devoid of undue political interference and financial influence in the selection of university leadership for quality governance and educational progress in Nigeria.

This was as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) appealed to the Federal Government not to systemically phase out TETFund, which, he said, “transformed” tertiary educational institutions in the country in the last three decades.

The TETFund boss noted that despite the structural framework in appointing vice-chancellors, extraneous issues, including politics, corruption, lack of inclusiveness, and ethnic and religious biases often marred the selection process.

Echono stated this, yesterday while delivering a lecture on ‘Impact of Leadership Selection on Governance in Public Universities in Nigeria’ at the 36th Convocation of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) Owerri, Imo State.

He said, “Our universities have become increasingly local with the majority of the academic and non-academic staff sponsored by local politicians and other leaders from the host communities. Political affiliation has also assumed overarching importance in the selection process of university leadership.”

According to him, the involvement of university leaders by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct of elections has become counter-productive, stressing that such encouraged politicians to sponsor candidates for the position of Vice Chancellor, “in anticipation of returning the favour either to them or their preferred candidates to various electoral offices.”

He canvassed autonomy and adequate funding of public universities to minimise undue external influence, saying, “excessive interference lessens institutional flexibility,” which is essential to improve efficiency and productivity.

The TETFund “Our universities should promote diversity in leadership by encouraging and supporting the representation of women, minorities and individuals from diverse backgrounds in university leadership positions. Employing a merit-based selection process will foster gender equality and social justice.”

ASUU warned that suffocating the funding source of TETFund to run NELFUND would destroy public education in the country.

“The only source of funding is from TETFund; so, when you destroy it, you have destroyed public universities,” ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast programme, yesterday.

He alleged that some members of the ruling class “want to destroy public universities and ensure that the children of the poor remain slaves”.

The ASUU president faulted some bills introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying that stakeholders within the educational sector were not consulted before the bills were sent to the National Assembly.

“TETFund is a product of ASUU. You can’t make the tax laws without meeting with ASUU for inputs before proposing it before the National Assembly.

“The Vice Chancellors were not consulted; Pro Chancellors were not consulted. The people sat down somewhere and said over the next five years let’s scrap it, without consulting those who initiated this bill that has transformed Nigerian public universities. That’s not how to work in a system. That’s not how to run a country that is democratic,” he said.

Osodeke said rather than systematically phase out TETFund, which derives its funding from consolidated revenue from company income tax, the government should bankroll the newly formed NELFUND from Value Added Tax (VAT).

Hẹ added, “Take one or two per cent of VAT to fund NELFUND. Don’t take from Peter to pay Paul. Go and look for ways to fund NELFUND.”