The Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) has said the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) remains a major support system for Nigeria’s ailing higher education sector, noting that without its interventions, many universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education would have suffered even worse infrastructural decline and academic deterioration.
This position was made known on Thursday during a virtual press briefing by CPA Executive Director, Olufemi Lawson, who presented findings from the organisation’s nationwide assessment of TETFund’s operations, projects, and impact under the leadership of its Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono.
Lawson explained that the review, which lasted several months, involved field monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and consultations with lecturers, students, administrators, contractors, procurement observers, and host communities across the country.
He said the study was aimed at evaluating transparency, project execution, and overall service delivery in beneficiary institutions.
According to him, “the findings confirm that TETFund has remained central to the development and sustainability of tertiary education in Nigeria,” despite prevailing economic pressures such as inflation and rising construction costs.
CPA noted that between 2011 and 2024, the intervention agency disbursed more than ₦1.8 trillion to public tertiary institutions nationwide. Of this amount, universities received over ₦918 billion, polytechnics about ₦461 billion, while colleges of education got in excess of ₦458 billion.
The organisation further revealed that over 152,000 projects have been executed under TETFund interventions across the country, spanning lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, hostels, ICT centres, faculty buildings, workshops, entrepreneurship centres, and innovation hubs.
Lawson said these projects have significantly improved learning environments in many institutions that previously faced severe infrastructural deficits.
He also commended the agency’s support for academic development, including postgraduate training for lecturers, funding for research, sponsorship of conferences, and assistance for scholarly publications.
According to CPA, TETFund has also expanded its investment in digital learning infrastructure, including internet connectivity, e-libraries, ICT facilities, and smart classrooms to enhance teaching and innovation.
While praising the agency’s impact, Lawson acknowledged that challenges still exist, particularly in procurement processes, monitoring, project execution timelines, and institutional compliance.
He stressed the need for continuous improvement in accountability and implementation mechanisms.
Despite these concerns, CPA expressed confidence in the current leadership of TETFund, including its management and governing board, citing visible infrastructural progress and sustained intervention programmes as reasons for its position.
The organisation also urged beneficiary institutions to ensure proper use of intervention funds and avoid cases of abandoned projects.
Established under the TETFund Act of 2011 and funded through education tax imposed on operating companies in Nigeria, TETFund was created to address chronic underfunding and infrastructural decay in public tertiary institutions.
Over the years, Nigeria’s higher education sector has continued to grapple with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate facilities, weak research funding, and periodic industrial disputes—challenges stakeholders say have been significantly mitigated through TETFund interventions.