Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to the development of the country’s education sector.
He also pledged continued support to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) so that it will continue to play its role in the development of Tertiary Education in the country.
He stated this while commissioning some TETFund sponsored projects in Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki.
Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Works, noted that his administration has demonstrated commitment towards the development of education since its commencement on May 29,2023.
He listed some actions and policies of his administration in this regard to include 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.
His administration he said also approved 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.
“These are part of conscious efforts being made by his administration to address students’ challenges and create industrial harmony between staff unions and Government,” he said.
He lauded TETfund led by the Executive Secretary Arc Sonny S.T. Echono for their efforts at effectively discharging the mandate of the Fund for the continuous development of public tertiary education in Nigeria.
“As we all know, education plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of nations.
“I wish to reiterate that education forms an integral part of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope agenda, hence the Federal Government would continue to provide necessary support towards making our educational institutions globally competitive for economic and technological development of the country.
“It is on record that over the years, TETFund through the support of the Federal Government has performed exceptionally in the provision of physical infrastructure,support for academic staff training and development, book publication, ICT, Research and Development amongst others in public tertiary educational institutions across the country.
“I wish to assure you that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains totally committed towards providing greater support and the enabling environment to enable the Fund improve on its performance,” he said.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono said the institutions has so far enjoyed allocations of over N10bn for infrastructure-related interventions cutting across the Annual, Special, Special High Impact, and Zonal interventions amongst others.
He noted that about 88.24% of these funds have been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university.
He commended the Management of the University for assiduously monitoring and ensuring the successful delivery of the various intervention projects executed from inception.
“We have no doubt that the projects undertaken with these funds have remarkably impacted on the mandate of the university in facilitating teaching, learning,and research.”
“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.
