Seventeen months after the exit of Professor Mahmoud Yakubu from the exalted office of the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Professor Suleiman Bogoro has mounted the saddle to continue from where the former stopped. AUGUSTINE OKEZIE takes a look at the challenges before Bogoro at the intervention agency.
At the handing over ceremony held at the corporate headquarters 0f TETFUND recently, the outgoing acting executive secretary of TETFund, Malam Aliyu Na’Iya told incoming Professor Suleiman Bogoro, that there are two outstanding challenges he must confront squarely during his tenure, including expanding the office space which is becoming smaller for any meaningful corporate activities, promoting full computerization of TETFund activities and most importantly clearing the backlog of un-accessed fund by tertiary institutions.
Malam Na’Iya also told his successor that he must be wary of the attitude of beneficiaries of TETFUND intervention who often abhors due process, has penchant for making frivolous intervention requests, and making piecemeal submission that often retards the growth and development of the fund.
Whether Professor Suleiman takes this early warning to heart will certainly manifest itself in the coming days ,most especially as he is expected to swing into action and hit the ground running, for an agency that has witnessed 17 months of idleness and has not witnessed the usual hurtle and bustle of activities that are typical of the days of Mahmooud Yakubu.
Creating an enabling environment that will ensure that tertiary institutions access a whopping N50 Billion naira Tertiary Education Fund TETFUND, that is still lying fallow in various commercial banks in Nigeria, un-accessed, by universities
According to the supervising Minister of education Barrister Nyeso Wike “Every year, these banks declare huge profits with the funds meant for tertiary institution’s education, in the country simply because most of the institution have not seen the need to meet the stipulated guidelines to access these funds”.
The Minister however, reiterated commitment of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration towards improving the standard of education in Nigeria via increased funding.
Wike, disclosed this during a Stakeholders Town Hall meeting on, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND, Intervention in tertiary Institutions in the South-East geo-political zone.
The meeting attended by Vice chancellors (VCs) of universities in the zone, Rectors of Polytechnics, and provost of colleges of education, took place at the Enugu campus (UNEC) auditorium of University of Nigeria Nsukka.
The Minister assured Vice Chancellors, Provosts and students of the commitment of the present administration in boosting funding for education saying’ “We have progressively increased the funds allocated to TETFUND. It is now left for the implementing institutions to access these funds and scale up the educational infrastructure in their various institutions.
“If the institutions do not access these funds, it is a different ball game all together. We have given Universities; N3 Billion under, High Impact, Polytechnic, N2 Billion and Colleges of Education, N1 Billion.
“Government has equally earmarked N200 Billion for Federal and State Universities in the country. All stakeholders should join hands with Federal Government in funding education.
Earlier, in his speech, Acting Secretary, TETFUND, Mr. Aliyu Manya, had revealed that the objectives of TETFUND is the make funds available to tertiary institutions in such a way that it will add value to research, learning and academics.
He maintained that as supervisory body, TETFUND provides guidelines for funds to be accessed, calling on tertiary institutions in the country to avail themselves of the funds, which he said is derived from two percent tax deducted from cooperate companies annual income
Speaking while declaring open the stakeholder’s town hall meeting on TETfund interventions for the North Central zone in Makurdi, the supervising Minister said that the meeting is aimed at ensuring that the tertiary institutions in the zone work hard to fully use the necessary funds allocated to the respective schools.
The Minister noted that federal government through TETFund has been consistent while some universities have been unable to fully use the funds allocated, through no fault of the government.
Wike further declared that the stakeholder’s town-hall meeting on tertiary education trust fund, (TETFund), interventions was an opportunity to showcase the readiness of government towards promoting accountability and transparency in the application of TETfund resources by tertiary institutions.
According to him, whenever the issue of funding for tertiary institutions in the country comes up, it is erroneously believed that the federal government is not spending enough money, while the fact on ground proves otherwise as most institutions have funds lying with the TETFund, un-accessed and unutilized
Wike said: “On the average the federal government and the TETFund provide not less than 100 billion naira as development grants to its tertiary institutions for the sustenance, expansion of infrastructure and the improvement of staff capacity. It is pertinent to note that TETfund intervention is not limited to federal tertiary institutions. It also funds at least 3 state-owned tertiary institutions in every state of the federation.
“As the chief accounting officers, the vice chancellors, rectors and provosts of these institutions are responsible for ensuring prudent, efficient and targeted management of public funds to develop their institutions in such a way that we all can see value for money spent. This, we all assume is what they are doing.”, the minister said.
Implementing the president’s transformation agenda in TETFund, requires that Borogo goes beyond rhetorics to find out why tertiary institutions are finding it difficult to access TETFund interventions. Similarly he should equally finding out why they are shying away from accessing research grants , present implementable research proposals and place themselves at the same pedestrian with other centers of learning the world over.
