4 weeks ago
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By Joseph Erunke
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved a sum of ₦70 cardinal for the implementation of the Mini-Grid Solar Power Project nether the 2025 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) involution cycle.
Chairman of the TETFund Board of Trustees, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari disclosed this connected Wednesday successful Abuja astatine the 2025 TETFund National Town Hall Meeting, which brought unneurotic cardinal stakeholders successful the acquisition sector, including apical authorities officials, vice-chancellors, rectors, provosts, and representatives of world unions.
Masari, a erstwhile politician of Katsina State and one-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the star task is portion of efforts to beforehand renewable and sustainable vigor solutions successful Nigerian tertiary institutions. He explained that 12 (12) institutions person been selected successful the archetypal signifier of the project.
The benefiting institutions see the Nigerian Army University, Biu, Borno State; Northwest University, Kano; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State; Alvan Ikoku University of Education, Owerri, Imo State; and Lagos State University, among others.
According to Masari, the Town Hall Meeting was a large measurement towards strengthening transparency, inclusivity, and responsiveness successful the nation’s tertiary acquisition system.
He highlighted immoderate of the milestones achieved by the Fund nether President Tinubu’s administration, noting that implicit 3,332 scholars person benefited from TETFund’s master’s grade sponsorships, portion 4,796 person been supported for PhD programmes nether the section constituent of the TETFund Scholarship for Academic Staff.
“The Fund continues to enactment teaching practice, league attendance, research, and development, thereby ensuring that Nigerian tertiary institutions are equipped with a highly trained and globally exposed world workforce,” Masari said.
He added that the Board envisions Nigerian tertiary institutions that are globally competitive, research-oriented, and innovation-driven, producing graduates who are employable, entrepreneurial, and susceptible of solving nationalist challenges.
“To execute this, we volition proceed to fortify accountability and transparency frameworks, grow investments successful alternate vigor and integer learning platforms, beforehand precocious probe successful agriculture, health, and technology, and deepen collaboration with industries and planetary partners to thrust probe commercialization and sustainable impact,” helium stated.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono commended President Tinubu for his beardown enactment for tertiary education, particularly done the caller summation successful the acquisition taxation allocation from 2.5% to 3%. He noted that the summation has importantly boosted the Fund’s involution capacity.
Echono besides clarified that the Fund had temporarily suspended overseas grooming of scholars, but for specialized programmes, pending the instauration of a caller argumentation framework. According to him, this determination followed the President’s directive to curb the inclination of scholars absconding aft completing government-sponsored studies abroad.
“Mr. President complained that truthful galore of the radical we nonstop overseas for studies bash not return, and helium felt it was unfair,” Echono stated. “He has truthful instructed that measures beryllium enactment successful place,not to halt overseas grooming entirely,but to guarantee that beneficiaries are decently bonded and instrumentality to lend their cognition to nationalist development.”
Also speaking astatine the event, the erstwhile President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, cautioned against the proliferation of universities, which helium described arsenic “constituency projects.” He argued that galore of these caller institutions are chiefly established to payment from TETFund interventions, alternatively than to heighten entree to prime education.
Osodeke urged the National Assembly to enact a instrumentality barring recently established universities and different tertiary institutions from accessing TETFund interventions until they person operated for astatine slightest 5 to 10 years.
The station Tinubu approves N70bn for TETFund mini-grid star project appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.
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