The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has allocated N70 billion for the building of mini-grid power projects across 18 selected tertiary institutions. The projects aim to address the high cost of electricity and facilitate research and learning in the country.
Danladi Abubakar Sani, a member of the TETFUND board, stated this at a three-day Town Hall meeting for stakeholders of TETFund beneficiaries institutions for the region in 2025 in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
The town hall meeting, which was held simultaneously across other geopolitical zones, is not a routine gathering but a strategic platform for open dialogue, reflection, and collective action designed to foster meaningful engagement between the Fund, its beneficiary institutions, and their surrounding communities across all six geopolitical zones of the country.
Sani, who is representing North East region in TETFUND, said the board is determined to create a knowledge driven industries that would foster innovations within Nigeria’s institutions, generate employment and contribute to the nation’s economic growth.
According to him, the board under the leadership of Aminu Bello Masari is committed to addressing critical issues in Nigeria’s institutions for growth, innovation, and development.
“By fostering innovation ecosystems within our institutions, the Board is situating the foundation for knowledge-driven industries that can generate employment and contribute significantly to national economic growth.
“To address one of the most persistent challenges facing our tertiary institutions, the high cost of electricity, the Board has also approved the Mini Grid Power Project under the Year 2025 Intervention Cycle, with a N70 billion allocation across eighteen (18) institutions, which have been selected to benefit from sustainable mini grid energy solutions.
“This bold step will ensure a stable, cost-effective, and renewable electricity supply to campuses, thereby reducing operational costs and enhancing research and learning,’’ he said.
While commending President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for renewed vigour in changing the landscape in the education environment, Sani said, the fund has executed several projects in the North East under the direction of the Board of Trustees in areas of specialised high-impact projects, disaster recovery, security, upgrade of laboratories and workshops, hostels among others for the 2025 TETFUND interventions.
He said the board is positioning tertiary institutions to be globally competitive, innovation-driven, and deeply responsive to the needs of their host communities.
“As we remain steadfast in strengthening accountability frameworks, expanding investments in alternative energy solutions, promoting advanced research in agriculture and health sciences and consolidating our ICT driven learning platforms. The journey ahead requires the collective effort of all stakeholders.
“The responsibility of shaping the future of Nigerian higher education cannot rest solely on the Fund or government institutions; it demands collaboration, shared ownership, and active participation by all of us, institutions, communities, industries, and civil society alike,” he maintained.
The vice chancellor of Gombe State University, Umaru Pate, said he was happy that the TETFUND is alive and well to meet the needs of tertiary institutions, as most of the projects in state-owned institutions are only TETFund projects.
Pate expressed worry about how some states go ahead and establish institutions, believing that TETFund is going to fund them, adding that expansion without quality is dangerous to the education system.
While emphasizing the role of TETFund as an interventionist agency, the Gombe VC said TETFund is not the only major funding source for institutions to survive; hence, collective efforts are needed for institutions to thrive.
The guest speakers at the town hall meeting, Dr. Isa Mohammed of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, Prof. Solomon Iyekekpolor, Director of Academic Planning, all from the Taraba State University, Jalingo commended the federal government commitment in improving quality of education in higher institutions.
