Provost makes case for monotechnics as TETFund beneficiaries

Don seeks inclusion of private varsity students in loan scheme
The Provost, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Oyo State, Dr Ibrahim Oduola Lawal, has urged the Federal Government to enlist all monotechnic institutions nationwide as beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

This, he said, would help to aid research as well infrastructural growth in those colleges and also facilitate development for the country. Lawal, who gave the advice during a media briefing as part of the activities lined up for the 85th anniversary of the College and 76th-83rd combined convocation ceremony in Ibadan, said that if needed funds are made available for monotechnic institutions, especially in the area of funding, most of the problems confronting the country in the health sector would have become a thing of the past. He said the institution had designed some courses with a sole aim of combating terminal ailments as well environmental challenges.

The Federal College of Forestry, according to him, is a hub for protecting the environmental issue in the country. The Provost said that former President Olusegun Obasanjo would be delivering the convocation ceremony lecture entitled, “85th-year of Nurturing Nature: The Legacy and Future of Forestry Education in Nigeria.”

The sixth-day event will commence with Jumat service on Friday and rounds off with a fund-raising ceremony on Thursday.

RELATEDLY, the Vice-Chancellor of Augustine University, Ilara-Epe, Lagos State, Prof. Christopher Odetunde, has called on the Federal Government to extend the loan scheme to students in private higher institutions.

Odetunde, while speaking with journalists ahead of the institution’s sixth convocation ceremony, said students in both public and private higher institutions are Nigerians being trained to contribute to the development and growth of the country.

Odetunde noted that private schools are helping to fill the gap created by not having enough schools to train the manpower the country needs. He said that apart from getting a degree in a particular course, students should also ensure they are certificated in one special skill or the other.