From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has disbursed N24 billion for special high impact projects in six universities, polytechnics and colleges of Education (CoE), each in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria.
Breakdown of the figure indicated that each benefitting university will get N3 billion, while each polytechnic and college of education will get N1 billion. The figure was reportedly pulled from N320 billion that was recently approved by President Muhammadu Buhari for 2023 intervention.
TETFund Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, told newsmen during a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, that the special impact projects were designed to enable the benefitting institutions improve on infrastructures, programmes and other things in the institution.
He said the special intervention is usually at the discretion of the Board of Trustees for which allocations are zonal-based and are done equitably by the decision of the board as enshrined in the Enabling Act, and the beneficiaries are selected based on the age of the institution per geo-political zones of Nigeria among other criteria
He added that the intervention seeks to inject funds into selected institutions to achieve a major turnaround through programme upgrade and improvement in the teaching and learning environment.
He said the benefitting institutions for 2023 are Ibrahim Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State; Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State; Federal University, Birnin Kebbi; Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences; Edo State University; and Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State.
“The benefitting polytechnics are Federal Polytechnics, Offa; Federal Polytechnic, Gombe; Federal Polytechnic, Kabo, Kano State; Anambra State Polytechnic; Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny, and Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, Igboora.
“Benefitting CoEs are Plateau State CoE, Federal CoE,Yola; Federal CoE, Zaria; Enugu State CoE, Delta State CoE and Taiye Solarin CoE. Last year, six universities benefitted. We zoned six every year and pick one from each zone. Next year, another six will be picked.”
You also noticed that there is a balance between the state and federal institution and that is how we spread it.
“We also did the same for polytechnics and the CoEs. So, we have N1 billion each for six polytechnics and N1 billion each for six CoE specifically for high impact project. Under this special impact project, you can also see we have 18 different states. So, it’s quite a big development to achieve.”
He said the other area of intervention for the special intervention is students hostels. “Many schools have deplorable accommodations for students. We recently commenced interventions on hostel accommodation and we will encourage schools because we believe the hostels are one of the areas where private sector funding can be attracted.
“Last year, we released intervention in 20 institutions and the hostels have been completed. Another 20 institutions are ready this year, that is one of the importance of the special impact project.”
Echono, however, confirmed that N6 billion has been allocated to institutions in security prone areas, especially those with internal security challenges as well as institutions with cases of abductions and other similar crimes.