The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has spent N7, 879, 432,390 billion on intervention projects at the College of Education Akwanga, Nasarawa State.
Muhammed Abdullahi, Minister of Environment, disclosed this on Thursday while commissioning three newly-completed TETFund projects at the college in Akwanga.
The Minister said the interventions were on infrastructure, academic staff development, and content, among others.
On academic staff development, Abdullahi said the fund had sponsored 108 lecturers from the college for PhD degrees and 179 for Masters Degrees in foreign and local institutions totalling N799,570,466.
He added that 119 staff were sponsored to attend conferences, totalling N150, 925,069:00.
The minister stated that the commissioning of three iconic projects sponsored by TETFund was a continuation of the fund’s intervention in the institution, adding that the three projects were executed at a total sum of N954,804,436.14.
“These projects are: Home Economics Department Complex -N348,466,368.97; Undergraduates Programmes Complex,-N174,759,172.87; School of Education Complex -N434,578,894.30; total sum—N954,804,436.14,” he said
He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to education has been undaunted, as observed in his recent upward review of the 2 per cent education tax to 3 per cent, adding that the commissioning of the projects will further enhance teaching and learning in the institution.
Abdullahi expressed the Federal Government’s commitment to providing needed infrastructure to enhance teaching and learning in the country’s tertiary institutions.
Also speaking, the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Fatu Jimaita, said TETFund, through its interventions, has played a remarkable role in providing quality education in the country.
While describing the fund as the fulcrum of educational development in Nigeria, Jimaita thanked TETFund for the projects and expressed hope that the iconic structures would be put to good use and protected.
On his part, the Provost of the College, Rev. Jonathan Thani, noted the impact of TETFund on all aspects of the college, including staff training, infrastructure, and facilities.
While thanking the fund for its projects, Thani called for more interventions from TETFund, lamenting that the college, which has over 16,000 students, does not have a befitting library, except the old one constructed in 1973.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono, said that the current administration had invested heavily in infrastructure in its over seven years of existence to aid teaching and learning in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Represented by the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at TETFund, Arc Babatunde Olajide, the TETFund boss said the fund’s interventions across tertiary institutions aligned with enabling laws.
Echono noted that the government’s commitment to the intervention attests to the fact that it desires to have the nation’s tertiary institutions well-ranked globally.
While disclosing that the projects being commissioned were started in 2019 and completed in 2022 at a total cost of N1 billion, he charged the management of the institution to commit the buildings to good use and ensure maintenance of the structures for the advancement of learning in the college.
