Insights From TETFund Retreat

The 2024 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Board of Trustees (BOT) Retreat in Lagos brought together key stakeholders, including representatives from the National Assembly, educational experts, and prominent academia

The retreat was to address critical issues surrounding Nigeria’s higher education and economic recovery.

Over three days, discussions centered on strategies to enhance the quality of tertiary education, promote innovative research, and foster sustainable economic growth.

With opening remarks from TETFund BOT Chairman, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, and insights from Executive Secretary Arc. Sonny Echono, the retreat underscored TETFund’s commitment to revitalizing Nigeria’s education sector and supporting national development.

Issues surrounding the advancement of quality higher education delivery, innovative research and economic recovery in Nigeria formed the focus of the retreat.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the retreat, the Chairman of the TETFund Board of Trustees (BOT), Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari reiterated the commitment of the board towards the improvement of higher education delivery and support for innovative research, as part of efforts geared towards revamping the Nigerian economy.

While noting that investment in education was critical to the development of the country with potential for addressing Nigeria’s economic challenges, Rt. Hon. Masari urged members of the BOT to bring their wealth of experience to bear in contributing to the development of education.

He expressed assurance towards enhancing the value of education through the provision of necessary infrastructure in public tertiary educational institutions and making tertiary education more accessible to Nigerians irrespective of their social class.

The Chairman also requested for the support of TETFund management towards achieving the Fund’s mandate and maximizing its impact, noting that their collaboration would go a long way in ensuring greater development of tertiary education in Nigeria.

Also speaking at the retreat while fielding questions from journalists, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono expressed the Fund’s readiness to making more positive changes in the higher education sub-sector. He, however, challenged heads of Beneficiary Institutions on the need for quality and timely delivery of intervention projects in their various institutions.

“We have set a high standard for our universities and other higher institutions benefiting from our intervention projects. They must manage the resources given to them well. They must be efficient in their planning, accessing and managing the funds given them. They must be prompt in dealing with contractors. We don’t want any wasting of time that would let our projects be caught up in the web of inflation.

“They must also up their supervision mechanisms. We are also introducing more efficient supervision mechanisms. The projects must be of optimal quality. They should also take advantage of the opportunities we are giving them in the area of research, innovation, entrepreneurship among others. We are also encouraging them to be able to improve on the revenue generation so that they won’t be too dependent regarding funding,” he said.

Speakers at the retreat included the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, former Executive Secretaries of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola and Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.

Others are; Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency, Alhaji Abba Abubakar Aliyu, former Vice-Chancellor University of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Igwe, Pioneer Vice- Chancellor, National Open University of Nigeria, Prof. Olugbemiro Jegede, Innovation Consultant, Mr. Tope Toogun, a medical expert, Prof. Olawale Sulaiman and Chairman of TETFund’s Committee on National Research Fair/Exhibition, Dr. Umar Bindir.

The retreat also featured presentations by the various departments of the Fund.