The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned of the consequences of the federal government abrogating the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The union disclosed that without TETFund, many Nigerian public universities would not have facilities currently dotting the landscape of federal and state institutions.
Addressing newsmen in Lagos on the plan to scrap TETFund, ASUU Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, said if the government goes ahead with the plan, there would be a reduction in the number of facilities and decay of others in various campuses.
Describing TETFund as a child of necessity and a product of a serious crisis of infrastructural decay resulting from acute underfunding of the nation’s public universities, Odukoya said the challenge of figuring out how to resolve the funding crisis of public universities in Nigeria ASUU by the then military government led to their coming with the creative idea leading to the establishment of TETFund.
“For roughly 10 and a half years, the TETFund has fulfilled its interventionalist function in positively driving the public tertiary education sector and delivering its benefits to the doorstep of the common man whose children would have been unable to have access to quality education.
“It cannot be over-emphasized that without TETFund, Nigerian public universities would have gone the way of the public primary and secondary schools that have become objects of national shame,” Odukoya argued.
The zonal coordinator acknowledged that several public universities, especially those owned by states have literally become TETFund universities as majority of their structures, laboratories and funds for the training of academics is from TETFund yearly interventions.
His words: “This sad and regrettable development is because while governments at all levels are busy proliferating public universities, they have proven to be highly irresponsible and unconcerned when it comes to funding these universities that are for their “constituency projects”, whose viability was never considered.
“To now contemplate abrogating TETFund and replacing it with National Education Loan Fund (NELFund) under the Tax Bill 2024 is to say the least highly sacrilegious and most unpatriotic.”
Odukoya recalled that the agency was established by the TETFund Act of 2011, for intervention designed to give supplemental funding to public tertiary institutions in Nigeria, arguing that eliminating TETFund and substituting it with a loan scheme does not meet this duty.
Prof. Odukoya maintained that the main purpose of the TETFund is to provide funding for public tertiary institutions’ staff development, research and infrastructure for which the students directly and indirectly benefit through intense, quality and proper training.
According to him, the substitution of TETFund for NELFund would encourage a culture of student debt, similar to troublesome models observed in nations such as the United States.
He insisted TETFund has helped institutions and indirectly improves communities.
“Academic staff would not be able to receive research grants, conference funding, or training without TETFund, which would lower their morale and professional growth.
“Inadequate facilities and learning materials would have a detrimental effect on instruction and learning, adding to the workload of faculty and lowering the caliber of graduates,” Odukoya stated.
ASUU Treasurer, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, said the union has met the Committee of Vice Chancellors, Committee of Pro-Chancellors, some key stakeholders and with the education minister on the issue.
