Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETfund, says it has allocated N7O billiion across 18 institutions in Nigeria for Mini grid power project under its 2025 intervention cycle.
The Board of Trustees Member (BOT) South South Zone, Aboh Uduyok who disclosed this in Uyo on Friday, during the 2025 town hall meeting for the stakeholders of TETfund Beneficiary institutions in the zone, said such move would solve perennial power outage facing tertiary institutions in South South and other parts of Nigeria.
According to him, “to address one of the most persistent challenges facing our tertiary institutions, the high cost of electricity, the board has approved the Mini Grid Power Project under year 2025 intervention cycle with N70b allocation across 18 tertiary institutions which have been selected to benefit from sustainable mini grid energy solutions .
“This bold step will ensure a stable, cost effective and renewable electricity supply to campuses, thereby reducing operational costs and enhancing research and learning.”
The BOT member said TETfund has extended several projects to tertiary institutions in the South South region under the high impact projects, adding that tertiary institutions from South South were among the beneficiaries of 2025 Disaster Recovery Intervention projects, including Federal University of Science and Technology in Ikot Abasi, Bayelsa State Polytechnic, Aleibiri , Admiralty University, Ibusa, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce and University of Cross River State.
Uduyok, who noted that the agency had intervened in the infrastructural development, research and academic training as well as promotion of teaching practice, called for partnership with stakeholders for sustainable and transparent execution of projects in the institutions. He also urged the stakeholders to own the facilities put up in their institutions and uphold a maintenance culture.
In his paper tagged, “TETFund and the Future of Tertiary Education in Nigeria” Mr Ntia Thompson, the Chief Executive Officer of Carsem Consult Limited while commending TETfund for all its interventions and programmes, called for the adoption of needs‑based allocation formula with special needs & strategic importance. He also urged the agency to create a South‑South Innovation Window for practical research and turning research into useful products.
His words, “TETFund should transition from funder to catalytic partner for turning research into useful products and resilience.Regional partners should get involved in co‑designing a 5‑year South‑South Tertiary Development Plan.Mobilize Alumni, Diaspora and Industry as co‑investors.”
The stakeholders while reacting, appealed to TETfund to increase education tax from the present 3 per cent, saying the 0.5 increment from the 2.5 per cent was not enough to cater for education needs and queried the creation of special desk for Ministry of Education in TETfund describing it as monitoring spirits.
The Rector of Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic, Dr Moses Umoessien also appealed that TETfund should authorize one university in each state to run Masters/PhD programmes for academic staff of Polytechnics to meet up with the NBTE’s directive that all academic staff of Polytechnics should go for their masters programme (if they have not) or risk being converted to non teaching staff.
He said approving one university in each state for the programme would give room for part-time arrangement and lecturers can combine their job with their academic programmes.
