TETFund: Closing Nigeria’s Digital Gap In Tertiary Institutions

Owning a laptop, paying for regular internet access and having a reliable electricity supply, for many Nigerian students, remain significant barriers to fully participating in modern higher education.

While universities and other tertiary institutions increasingly depend on digital platforms, online libraries, virtual classrooms and electronic research resources, a large number of students still struggle to access the basic tools required to benefit from them.

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is now seeking to address part of this challenge through the expansion of ICT Digital Experience Centres across the country.

The intervention is designed to provide students with free access to computers, high-speed internet, digital resources and alternative power supply, with the fund planning to extend the initiative to more than 270 beneficiary institutions nationwide.

The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the ambition was not to limit the centres to a handful of institutions but to make them a standard feature of beneficiary campuses across Nigeria.

He disclosed this during the commissioning of an ICT Digital Experience Centre at the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), Calabar, by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

The initiative comes at a time when access to technology has become increasingly inseparable from access to education itself. From conducting research and accessing international academic journals to submitting assignments, attending online programmes and acquiring digital skills, students are expected to navigate an educational environment that is becoming more technology-driven.

Yet, the digital transition has not been evenly distributed. For students from low-income households, the cost of purchasing a laptop can be prohibitive.

Also, internet subscriptions add another recurring burden, while unreliable electricity can make it difficult to keep devices charged or maintain consistent access to online resources.

Against this background, Echono said the centres were conceived to bridge the digital divide by creating accessible spaces where students could use computers, connect to high-speed internet and access online educational materials without having to bear the cost themselves.

“We intend to cascade it to every institution. Every institution that is a beneficiary must have a centre like this on campus,” he said.

This represents a potentially significant expansion of digital access in Nigeria’s tertiary education system, considering the number of institutions that benefit from TETFund interventions.

Rather than treating digital infrastructure as a luxury, the initiative seeks to position it as part of the basic support structure required for contemporary higher education.

At the UNICROSS centre, the facility is also expected to serve as a digital hub where students can undertake academic work, explore research materials, develop innovative ideas and acquire skills that could improve their employment prospects.

Echono said the centres would provide students with digital resources required for academic work, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, while also giving them access to educational content from around the world.

The planned integration of the centres with TETFund’s TERAS platform is expected to further expand their usefulness. According to Echono, students would be able to access materials, discoveries and guidance that could support creativity, innovation and participation in digital and online activities.

“By the time we integrate these centres with our TERAS platform, they will have access to any material, any discovery and any guidance that they will need to be creative, innovative and to participate in any digital or online activity,” he said.

The emphasis on access is particularly important in a country where the digital divide often mirrors existing economic inequalities.

A student whose family can afford a laptop, mobile data and alternative power has a considerable advantage over another student who depends entirely on public computer facilities or struggles to stay connected to the internet.

The new centres could therefore provide a common platform for students from different economic backgrounds.

Under the planned model, access is expected to be free.

Echono stressed that students would not be charged for using the facilities, with particular attention being paid to those who cannot afford personal computers or regular internet subscriptions.

“It’s Wi-Fi-based. You just come in here, you can connect, and even the use of the facilities is at zero cost to them,” he said.

He added that students could use the centres to carry out assignments and other academic activities at any time.

The 24-hour access component is another important element of the intervention. Nigerian tertiary institutions have long struggled with the challenge of unreliable electricity, which can undermine attempts to sustain digital learning.

A computer centre without dependable electricity and internet connectivity can quickly become underutilised. TETFund’s approach seeks to address both problems by providing alternative power and round-the-clock internet connectivity.

“On every campus, you will have a facility like this, an ICT centre where not only will you have the computers and the other digital resources, but you will also have 24-hour light and 24-hour data internet,” Echono said.

If effectively sustained, such facilities could transform how students conduct research, prepare assignments and acquire digital skills.

The intervention is also being rolled out in phases. Echono disclosed that six facilities had been commissioned in the first phase, while another 15 were expected to be completed before the end of January 2027.

In addition, work was ongoing on about 50 other facilities across beneficiary institutions. Some involve upgrading existing ICT centres, while others involve constructing entirely new facilities.

The centres are expected to have a minimum of 200 laptops and computers.

“All in all, we are talking about at least 63, or even more, of these facilities in the next couple of months,” Echono said.

The scale of the planned expansion suggests that TETFund is attempting to move beyond isolated technology projects towards a broader digital infrastructure network within the tertiary education system.

The UNICROSS facility is one of six pioneer centres selected under TETFund’s strategic ICT intervention. The TETFund Board approved the establishment of an ICT Experience Centre in each of the country’s six geopolitical zones at a cost of N1 billion per zone.

UNICROSS was selected to host the South-South centre, giving the region a facility intended to serve as a model for the wider rollout.

Other pioneer institutions include Ekiti State University in the South-West, Federal Polytechnic Oko in Anambra State for the South-East, Kaduna State University in the North-West, Kwara State University in the North-Central and Taraba State University in the North-East.

The geographical spread of the pilot programme reflects an attempt to ensure that the intervention is not concentrated in one part of the country.

The long-term success of the TETFund intervention will depend on how well the centres are maintained, how reliable their internet connectivity remains, whether the alternative power systems can be sustained and whether students continue to have unrestricted access to the facilities.

There is also the question of how effectively the centres can be integrated into teaching, research and innovation activities rather than operating merely as computer laboratories.

If properly managed, however, their potential extends beyond helping students complete assignments.

Echono further said the centres would also create opportunities for young Nigerians to develop digital skills, access online jobs and pursue self-employment.

That dimension could prove particularly valuable in an economy where graduates increasingly need skills that extend beyond their academic qualifications.

A student could potentially use the facility to learn software development, digital marketing, data analysis, graphic design or other technology-related skills, while others could use the internet connection to participate in an international course, access research databases, develop a business idea or seek remote employment.

In that sense, the ICT Experience Centres could become more than physical spaces filled with computers. They could become gateways connecting students in Nigerian tertiary institutions to the wider digital economy.