Nigeria’s university system is on the verge of sweeping transformation following the formal signing of a strategic partnership between the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Abuja.
The agreement, signed during a high-level visit by the UNDP delegation to TETFund headquarters in Abuja, signals a major shift toward innovation-driven education and skills development aimed at solving Nigeria’s most pressing socio-economic challenges.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, who received the UNDP team, described the collaboration as timely and deeply aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope and Nigeria First policy agenda.
“Let me warmly welcome you to our premises and express our deep appreciation for the kind words you’ve expressed about what we do. We are happy to deepen this relationship and broaden it across your various intervention segments. Nigeria has the position to take advantage, our youth are curious, hardworking and naturally innovative. But we must prepare them with the right skills.”
“If we do not do something about this exploding population, it’s already unraveling before our eyes what the alternative is. We must invest in our people. We need to provide infrastructure, create the right environment, and make sacrifices so that our youth can innovate and produce homegrown solutions,” he said.
The partnership covers co-investments in innovation hubs across Nigerian universities, support for commercialisation of research outputs, energy access initiatives, skills development for informal sectors, and AI and digital technology training.
“This aligns directly with what we’re doing. We’ve already started innovation hubs in 68 universities this year alone. We’re also building six regional multi-purpose research labs across the geopolitical zones. Construction is already ongoing in four locations.”
He also underscored the Fund’s commitment to supporting local production as a tool for economic transformation. Recalling his experience with Aba-based manufacturers while serving in the Ministry of Defence, he noted how locally-made military boots and uniforms eventually replaced imports. “Today, those tailors have grown their operations. If we replicate this success in textiles, mining, energy, and digital sectors, we’ll transform our economy.”
Echono further said TETFund was already ahead on research commercialisation, noting that the Fund has already inaugurated a national committee on this.
“We have strong MOUs with private sector groups like the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, MAN, and NACIMA. Our goal is to identify promising innovations and connect them with investors.”
He added that TETFund sponsors hundreds of scholars annually for training and prototyping, including partnerships with Israeli research centers. “We are building prototypes, securing patents, and protecting intellectual property. But more importantly, we’re providing platforms for pitching and investment.
“This year, we’re making nine universities energy efficient using solar and hybrid systems. Stable energy is essential for labs, medical services, and innovation centers. We also hope to tap into carbon credits to sustain the effort.”
Speaking during the signing, UNDP’s Resident Representative, Ms. Elsie G. Attafuah, praised TETFund’s strides and affirmed the UN agency’s willingness to co-invest in solutions designed and led by Nigerians.
“We are here to pay our taxes, but also to celebrate the great work that TETFund has been doing,” she said. We’ve admired from a distance your recent announcements, especially on university innovation hubs, this is where we must be.”
Attafuah emphasised the need to go beyond treating development symptoms and instead address structural barriers. “Why do our young people graduate and remain unemployed? Why are we sitting on raw materials like lithium in Nasarawa and exporting them as stones? We want to help change that by investing in the entire value chain.”
She disclosed that UNDP is already working with institutions like the University of Lagos to establish Nigeria’s first AI university core. “Artificial intelligence will determine the future. But what would AI mean for a country of 220 million people? We must take control of our future.”
The collaboration also targets trade, investment, and technology financing.
On financing innovation, she stressed that co-investment will be key. “We are setting up eight innovation spaces already. But who will invest in the ideas that come out of them? By September, we want to see the launch of these hubs and we are open to working with you to fund the next generation of Nigerian solutions,” she said.
Both parties agreed to conduct joint tours of existing and upcoming innovation hubs, share models, and explore opportunities for resource mobilisation, including the use of diaspora bonds and alternative funding mechanisms.
With the formal signing of the partnership now sealed in Abuja, the TETFund-UNDP deal stands as a major milestone in Nigeria’s higher education historya forward-looking pact to retool the country’s institutions into engines of innovation, inclusion, and global competitiveness.
