By Gloria Emmanuel The Federal Government on Tuesday disbursed a total of N135 billion 2014 intervention funds to public tertiary institutions in the country.
Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau announced this in Abuja at the 2014 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Annual Strategic Panning Workshop for the beneficiary institutions.
According to the breakdown of the allocation, each University is to receive the sum of N912 million of the regular intervention fund while each Polytechnic is to receive N661million with each college of education receiving the sum of N581million.
The Minister said, the allocation this year to the beneficiary institutions represents about 25 per cent increase in the regular allocations by TETFund to boost teaching and learning infrastructure in the institutions.
According to him, “TETFund disburses funds realised from 2% Education Tax collections to Federal and State Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
“Over the years, the quantum of funds allocated to institutions has increased considerably. This year, amount for direct allocation to the beneficiaries has increased by 41% for Universities, 49% for Polytechnics and 48% for Colleges of Education compared to 2013,” Shekarau said.
He called on the beneficiary institutions to effectively and transparently apply the funds to address the challenges of infrastructure deficit in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
The Minister warned the Federal Government would not hesitate to sanction any institution that diverts the allocation to other purposes.
He said: “These are resources invested in our public institutions for public good. Institutions must therefore, demonstrate fiscal responsibility and commitment to ethical standards.
“You must recognise that government and people of Nigeria, and indeed the global community expect you to lead the way in cutting age research and innovation that will enhance the growth and development of our society,” he said.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof Sulieman Bogoro said, TETFund intervention in public tertiary institutions have kept on increasing annually, adding that similarly allocation to each has equally been on the rise annually.
“While there are 157 public tertiary institutions that benefited in 2010, the number grew to 177 in 2013 and has by 2014 moved to 183 beneficiaries. Allocations to each university grew from N303m in 2010 to N646m in 2013, likewise allocation to Polytechnics rose from N183m in 2010 to N443m in 2013. The COE allocations rose from N157m in 2010 to N390m in 2013″.
He assured that the continued success of the fund’s intervention activities will continue to largely depend on proper project conceptualization by benefitting institutions through wide range of consultation within the academic community, and implementation based on full compliance with due process.
In his words, “Although TETFund does not dictate what you do with your funds nor engage contractors for you, the Fund will continue to insist that projects proposed for the utilisation of intervention, relate directly with the core mandate of your institutions”.
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