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•LASUED VC lauds fund for providing schools with facilities
By Gabriel Dike
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has confirmed the existence of 175 distressed projects scattered across the various public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in the country.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mr Sonny Echono disclosed this in Lagos at a workshop put together for desk officers in the various higher institutions in the South West.
The workshop also attracted some vice chancellors, rectors and provosts including new heads of institutions, who are expected to be enlisted by TETFund to receive the various grants.
Echono told newsmen that some of the incomplete projects were due to the attitude of some heads of the institutions, who rather than complete projects initiated by their predecessors would abandon them to start new ones.
The TETFund boss queried why some vice chancellors, rectors and provosts would decide to turn their various campuses to personal estates that include abandon projects worth billions of naira.
His words: “We are giving priority attention to the completion of abandoned projects across the higher institutions and we are doing that this year and in 2024. I am advising heads of the institutions not to jettison inherited structures and projects. Some of the heads abandoned some projects because they were not the initiators. This is unfair, considering the billions of naira spent on such projects.
“We are learning a wrong lesson from our political environment. Now, on campuses, we have caucuses and when a new man comes in, he brings in his own people. Sometimes, in doing this, expertise, competence and other virtues are jettisoned. I will advise that heads of our institutions should appoint people who will add value to the system to positions.
“Among the abandoned projects, we have some that we just need to do a little work and we are good to go. Many of such are to be inaugurated in the next one or two weeks. Some are not like that and the contracts may have to be determined.
Responding to questions on the new library project at the University of Lagos awarded at over N3billion abandoned for over four years, he explained that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is aware of the abandoned project and would provide additional funds to complete the project.
He added: “The UNILAG library project was awarded by the FEC and for anything to be done, FEC would have to revisit the matter. If it is found out that the contractor is incompetent, then the contract could be determined. But if he is competent to handle it, he could be given more funds to finish it.”
Speaking about the fate of some TETFund scholars on scholarship to study in Malaysia, Kenya and other countries, Echono attributed their crisis to the unfortunate exchange rate, which is higher than the rate their PhD grants were initially based on.
Echono noted: “We won’t allow our scholars to be stranded. We are doing everything possible to assist them. When most of them were going few years back, a dollar was about N480, but now the rate has gone high. Also, the cost of living has gone high globally too. Scholars we gave $1,000 to as living expenses allowance now need about $1,500.
“To guide against such in the future, we are going to change the pattern of our scholarship awards. We will make it 30 percent foreign and 70 percent local,” he added.
He tasked the Desk Officers to see themselves as the interface between the fund and the heads of their institutions and live up to expectations.
Speaking on the sideline of the workshop, the Vice Chancellor, Lagos State University of Education (LASUED), Ijanikin, Prof. Bidemi Lafiaji-Okuneye, commended the fund for saving the nation’s higher education sector from total collapse.
According to her: “Though we are a new university and yet to start benefiting from the fund, going to some of our campuses, one would see the tremendous and great job TETFund is doing. We are also using this medium to give the assurance that anytime we are listed by the fund, we are going to make judicious use of the resources given to us.”
Prof. Lafiaji-Okuneye lauded the executive secretary of TETFund for organizing the workshop to educate desk officers and heads of tertiary institutions on some critical areas.
The VC said the fund has transformed many institutions with many structures and facilities on various campuses to boost learning and research.
