TETFUND is lifeblood of tertiary education in Nigeria

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Miriam Onuoha, on Thursday described TETFUND as the lifeblood of tertiary education in the country, noting that TETFUND should be improved and sustained rather than scrapped.

Onuoha stated this in Abakaliki during the commissioning of N1.3 billion building projects of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund at Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki.

She noted that she had visited more than 46 universities across the country to inspect their projects, adding that what she saw was marvelous and amazing.

She commended President Bola Tinubu for making funds available to TETFUND to ensure the successful completion of the edifices in the school, calling for the sustenance of the fund in tertiary institutions across the country.

“Honestly, what I saw in more than 46 universities I visited was amazing and marvelous, and I maintain that rather than scrapping TETFUND, it should be sustained because TETFUND is the lifeblood of tertiary education in the country,” she said.

Speaking at the event, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State, represented by his Deputy, Princess Patricia Obila, commended TETFUND for its various interventions in the tertiary institutions, noting that the assistance has become instrumental to the infrastructural and educational advancement of the university.

He further commended President Tinubu for his Renewed Hope initiative, which, in his words, has facilitated transformative projects in the university and other sectors in the state.

Earlier in his address, the Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Arc Sonny Echono, described the three projects commissioned at the state university as the annual interventions for the years 2016-2019 (merged), 2021-2022 (merged), and 2020, with a total cost of N1,339,791,726.06.

Echono, represented by Babatunde Olajide, in charge of TETFUND Monitoring and Evaluation in Nigeria, said the projects were delivered successfully in line with TETFUND guidelines.

He recalled that TETFUND’s interventions at the university had seen remarkable and plausible strides in the utilization of its allocations for infrastructure-based projects in the institution.

He disclosed that since the commencement of TETFUND interventions at the university in 1999, the institution has received allocations totaling N12,313,420,341.34 for infrastructure-related interventions, cutting across the annual, special, special high impact, and zonal interventions, amongst others.

He said the statistics revealed that about 85.1% of the funds had been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university, expressing confidence that the projects undertaken with the funds had a remarkable impact on teaching, learning, and research.

He commended the management of the university for assiduously monitoring and ensuring the successful delivery of the various intervention projects executed from inception while hailing the Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Francis Nwifuru, the University Governing Council, members of staff, and the various project teams for the support given in ensuring that the projects were successfully delivered.

He further expressed optimism that the projects would strengthen the university’s efforts to become a global player in the tertiary education subsector and significantly contribute to research and development.

The Vice Chancellor of Ebonyi State University, Professor Chigozie Ogbu, while commending Governor Nwifuru’s commitment to transforming the institution, further described TETFUND as the lifeblood of tertiary education in Nigeria, having promoted a conducive teaching and learning environment for students.

Ogbu, however, requested that TETFUND grant a special allocation to complete the Advanced Reference Research Laboratory and a zonal allocation for the landscape of the Faculty of Management block at the university.