President Bola Tinubu has said that in recognition of the role of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in the development of public tertiary education in Nigeria, his administration will continue to support and strengthen the intervention activities of the Fund.
President Tinubu made the declaration in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital during the Commissioning of TETFund sponsored projects at the Ebonyi State University, Permanent Site Abakaliki on Friday.
President Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister for Works, Sen David Umahi, said he has also approved the implementation of the upward review of Education Tax (EDT) to 3 percent with effect from September 2023.
He noted that the approval will in no small measure contribute to the improved funding of the education sector and development of the public tertiary institutions.
“It is important to also commend and appreciate the President for the commitment he has demonstrated towards the development of education since the commencement of his administration such as the introduction of the students loan initiative to ease access to tertiary education for indigent students.
“Meeting personally with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to discuss the welfare of Nigerian students and recently, approving waiver of the No Work, No Pay order on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which would pave the way for members of the union to receive part of their withheld salaries,” he said.
Sen Umahi noted that the gesture was part of conscious efforts being made by the present administration to address students’ challenges and create industrial harmony between staff unions and government.
In his address, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch Sunny Echonu, noted that since Ebonyi State University was enlisted as a beneficiary, it has enjoyed allocations up to over N10.8 billion for infrastructure-related interventions which cut across the Annual, Special, Special High Impact, and Zonal interventions amongst others.
He noted that statistics reveal that about 88.24% of the funds have been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university.
The Executive Secretary maintained that he has no doubt that the projects undertaken with the funds have remarkably impacted on the mandate of the university in facilitating teaching, learning, and research.
“I wish to commend the Management of the University for assiduously monitoring and ensuring the successful delivery of the various intervention projects executed from inception.
“The three projects to be commissioned today are those executed under the years 2011-2015 (Merged) Annual and 2016-2019 (Merged) annual interventions. The total costs amount to N1,551,746,734.20, all delivered successfully inline with the TETFund guidelines.
“We are optimistic that these projects wil strengthen efforts of the university to become a global player in the tertiary education subsector and significantly contribute to research and development.
“Our resolve as a Fund is to ensure that our interventions are sustained and improved upon as much as possible to enable our institutions undertake bigger, and more laudable and impactful projects that will make them become globally competitive and situate them in enviable positions among their peers both nationally and globally,” he said.
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