Prof. Chigozie Ogbu, Vice-Chancellor of Ebonyi state University (EBSU) has lauded says that the Tetiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), saying it has been the live-wire of the nation’s universities.
Ogbu made the remark in Abakaliki during the official inauguration of some TETFund-sponsored projects in the university.
BRANDPOWER reports that the projects include the Faculty of Education building, the University Library and Centre for Information Communications Technology (ICT) and Research.
The vice-chancellor noted that the faculty of education building was a four-floor structure with 27 classrooms, 3 major teaching laboratories, 66 offices, faculty library and two lecture theatres.
”The university library is a three-floor structure housing e-library, faculty sections, binding, references and cataloguing. There is a section for bookshop, 12 offices and board room
”The ICT is a two-floor building with 500 seating capacity, four ICT halls with 582 desktop computers for CBT examinations and training among other sections,” he explained.
Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of TETFund, represented by his Special Assistant, Alhaji Buhari Mikailu, stated that the office was committed to improve infrastructure in universities.
He said from the enlistment of Ebonyi State University as a beneficiary, it had enjoyed allocations of more than N10.8 billion for infrastructure-related interventions.
”This cuts accross the annual, special, Special High Impact and zonal interventions, amongst others.
”The statistics reveal that about 88.24 per cent of these funds have been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university.
”We have no doubt that the projects undertaken with these funds have remarkably impacted on the mandate of the university in facilitating teaching, learning, and research,” Echono explained.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) was originally established as Education Trust Fund (ETF) by the Act No 7 of 1993 as amended by Act No 40 of 1998 (now repealed and replaced with Tertiary Education Trust Fund Act 2011). It is an intervention agency set up to provide supplementary support to all level of public tertiary institutions with the main objective of using funding alongside project management for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of Tertiary Education in Nigeria.
The main source of income available to the Fund is the two percent education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. The Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) assesses collects the tax on behalf of the Fund.
