Arch. Sonny Echono, TETFund’s Executive Secretary
After a series of campus fire incidents that claimed lives and destroyed hostels, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has announced plans to establish fire stations in public universities across Nigeria.
For many students, the news brings relief. Last year, a night fire gutted a hostel at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, leaving dozens displaced and property worth millions of naira destroyed. Similar incidents in 2024 resulted in at least three federal institutions incurring heavy losses.
Announcing the new measure in Abuja, TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Arch. Sonny Echono, said the initiative will help safeguard lives and national assets worth trillions of naira within higher institutions. “We cannot provide these national assets without thinking about how to keep them safe,” he said.
The plan will involve installing smoke detectors, hydrants, and sprinklers, as well as training campus personnel for a quick response. Echono added that discussions were underway to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Fire Service covering safety audits and staff training.
Comptroller-General of the Fire Service, Mr Samuel Olumode Adeyemi, welcomed the collaboration, describing it as timely. “Fire outbreaks in our universities have destroyed about 29 hostel rooms and claimed students’ lives this year alone,” he said, pledging to deploy firefighters and trucks to campuses once the stations are built.
Beyond infrastructure, both agencies said their goal is clear — to make campuses safer and ensure that a midnight spark never again becomes a national tragedy.
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