By: Gloria Emmanuel Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Thursday rounded off its nationwide town hall meeting aimed at sensitizing stakeholders on the application of N70 billion intervention funds that will soon be disbursed to Federal Universities for hostels.
Confirming the availability of the largesse, the National President of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Naisr Isah Fegge, said that the proposed release of N2billion for hostel construction to each Federal University in the country is part of the fallout of ASUU agreement with Federal Government after its last prolonged strike.
The release of the over N70 billion from the TETFund is in supporting the country’s drive to improve access and quality of education in the country.
Speaking at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, the venue for the North West zone of the stakeholder’s town hall meeting, the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, assured the benefiting Universities that federal government will continue to work with them to address identified challenges such as improving their capacities to implement projects and the development of strategic plan for the utilisation of TETFund intervention.
Wike said government in furtherance of its resolve to give access to education increased the budgetary allocation to federal tertiary institutions to N336 billion, adding that TETFund backs these up by providing complimentary financial support to tertiary institutions.
According to him, “in 2013, the number of institutions funded by TETFund increased from 164 to 177. As we know, TETFund funds all federal and state tertiary institutions. There has been consistent increase in allocations to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education”.
Federal government he said has also in the last four years made available N125billion as matching grants to support the development of infrastructure and resources in basic education.
Wike noted that the North East geo-political zone has the highest number of federal and state public tertiary institutions in the country and has been benefiting from greater investments from the government in the region.
Earlier, the Acting Executive Secretary of TETFund, Aliyu Na’iya said the meeting provided the platform for federal tertiary institutions in the zone to showcase the utilisation and impact of interventions from TETFund.
He noted that the meeting which was the sixth in the series of the town hall meeting started at the University of Agriculture Makurdi on the 4th of March, all in the effort to let Nigerians see how the institutions in the country have been able to utilise the funds available to them.
