The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has stated that legacy projects, which would be executed by the Fund, would change the landscape of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Echono, who solicited the support of management of the tertiary institutions to ensure seamless execution of the projects, stated this at the weekend in Lagos while speaking on the sideline of the annual Vanguard Newspaper Personality of the Year Awards where he bagged the ‘Education Icon’ Award.
Echono commended the President Bola Tinubu administration for some game-changing policies in the education sector, noting that the Fund would not relent in the discharge of its assignments and responsibilities.
“Despite the odds and the challenges, products of our education system are not pushovers. They can compete with their peers globally. Now, we have a number of our youths working for multinational companies while in the comfort of their homes in Nigeria. Nigeria is gradually becoming a hub for skilled labour that people across the world are seeking.
“While we have a youthful population, many of the advanced nations are experiencing declining or stagnant population. Many of those countries have aging population and they need skilled youthful labour to replenish their populations. That is why education is vital. I must commend the administration of President Bola Tinubu for some policies that are changing the face of the sector for good.
“In TETFund, we have supported over 40,000 people to do postgraduate programmes both locally and abroad. In order not to allow for any gap in the facilities those sent aboard are trained with and what we have here, we are investing heavily on upgrading facilities on our campuses.
“We are also ensuring that projects are completed as soon as possible because we don’t want inflation to catch up with the costs of those projects. Monitoring has been further strengthened. The impact of TETFund on our campuses can be seen by all,” he said.
On whether the Fund is not being overburdened as more public tertiary institutions were being set up, Echono explained that prudent management of the available resources has been the order of the day.
“We get more institutions to care for, also we get more resources too from the increase in Education Tax. But more importantly, we are managing well the resources at our disposal,” he explained.
While dedicating the Vanguard Award to President Tinubu, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, staff and management of the Fund, Echono said it would further propel him and his team to do more, as to whom much is given, much is expected.
