The Centre for Public Accountability (CPA) has identified the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) as a fundamental pillar sustaining Nigeria’s public tertiary education system, warning that without its consistent interventions, many institutions would have been submerged in deeper infrastructural decline and academic instability.
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This position was made known on Thursday during a virtual press briefing addressed by CPA’s Executive Director, Olufemi Lawson, who presented findings from an extensive independent review of TETFund’s operations, project execution, and institutional impact across the country.
Lawson explained that the assessment, which spanned several months, involved a multidisciplinary team comprising researchers, education policy analysts, procurement observers, and field investigators. The team reportedly engaged stakeholders, including university administrators, lecturers, students, contractors, and host community representatives across various geopolitical zones.
According to him, the objective was to evaluate the performance of TETFund under the leadership of its Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, particularly in the areas of transparency, project delivery, and educational support interventions.
“Our findings show that TETFund has remained a strategic and indispensable engine driving the development of tertiary education in Nigeria,” Lawson stated.
He further noted that despite persistent economic strain, inflationary pressures, and escalating construction costs, the agency has continued to implement intervention programmes aimed at strengthening academic infrastructure and institutional capacity.
CPA data revealed that between 2011 and 2024, TETFund disbursed over ₦1.8 trillion to public tertiary institutions nationwide. Within that figure, universities reportedly received more than ₦918 billion, polytechnics over ₦461 billion, and colleges of education in excess of ₦458 billion.
Lawson added that these financial interventions have translated into tangible developments across campuses, reshaping the learning environment in several institutions.
“Evidence suggests that over 152,000 infrastructure projects have been executed through TETFund support across Nigeria,” he said.
These projects reportedly include lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, student hostels, ICT centres, faculty complexes, entrepreneurship hubs, workshops, and innovation-driven facilities designed to modernise learning spaces.
The organisation further observed that many institutions previously plagued by infrastructural deficits now enjoy significantly improved academic environments as a result of sustained interventions.
Beyond infrastructure, CPA also commended TETFund’s role in strengthening postgraduate training, funding academic research, supporting conferences, and enhancing institutional capacity development across tertiary institutions.
The group highlighted increased investment in institution-based research, journal publications, manuscript development, and innovation-oriented studies aimed at addressing Nigeria’s developmental challenges and strengthening its knowledge economy.
It also acknowledged the agency’s growing emphasis on digital transformation, including ICT expansion, improved internet connectivity, e-library systems, and smart classroom initiatives intended to align Nigerian institutions with global academic standards.
However, CPA noted that despite these achievements, certain operational concerns persist, particularly in procurement processes, project delivery timelines, compliance mechanisms, and monitoring frameworks.
“We recognise that issues around procurement efficiency, execution delays, institutional compliance, and accountability structures still require continuous refinement,” Lawson added.
Despite these concerns, the organisation issued a vote of confidence in the leadership of TETFund, led by Echono and Board Chairman, Aminu Bello Masari, citing visible improvements in infrastructure, expanded research support, and stronger stakeholder engagement.
CPA also urged beneficiary institutions to demonstrate greater responsibility in the use of intervention funds, stressing the need to avoid abandoned or poorly executed projects.
Established under the TETFund Act of 2011, TETFund is financed through education tax contributions from operating companies in Nigeria and serves as a primary intervention mechanism for public tertiary education.
The agency was originally created to address chronic underfunding, deteriorating infrastructure, and weak research capacity across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Over the years, Nigeria’s higher education system has continued to grapple with overcrowded classrooms, inadequate hostel facilities, outdated laboratory equipment, limited research funding, and recurring industrial disputes often tied to financial constraints.
Education stakeholders maintain that without sustained intervention from TETFund, many public institutions would face even more severe infrastructural breakdown and declining academic quality.
Under its current framework, TETFund has intensified its focus on research innovation, academic staff development, digital learning infrastructure, and targeted intervention projects aimed at improving institutional productivity and graduate employability across the country.
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