Chairman of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Aminu Masari, says the board has received N1.6 trillion for various interventions across tertiary institutions in the country. Masari made the comments while addressing the press on Sunday in Katsina.
He said the fund, the highest in recent allocations, was accrued from the three per cent education tax imposed on company profits, as stipulated by the TETFund Act. Masari stated that 40 per cent of the amount, representing N460 billion, was earmarked for interventions across tertiary institutions nationwide. For state-level interventions, three institutions were selected in each state (one university, one polytechnic, and one college of education) to benefit. Masari said N225 billion from the N1.6 trillion was released to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) for the federal government’s students’ loan scheme.
Another N70 billion, he noted, was earmarked as energy support for tertiary institutions to build solar or gas power generation facilities. The board also allocated N25 billion to assist some institutions in enhancing campus security. “The institutions will use the funds for security-related projects, such as installing street lights and similar facilities,” Masari said.
Masari said TETFund has spent over N100 billion to strengthen medical sciences training across tertiary institutions in Nigeria. He added that the funds were to improve the capacity of institutions to train students in medical sciences, boosting manpower in the healthcare sector. Masari stressed that the interventions align with the government’s commitment to address healthcare manpower shortages caused by the recent exodus of skilled medical professionals. He concluded by warning institutions that TETFund has a robust monitoring and evaluation team, including consultants, to ensure released funds are used strictly for their proposed projects.
