Anyone who attended higher institutions in Nigeria during the 1990s is likely to remember seeing Education Trust Fund tags on infrastructure projects across university campuses.
Since its establishment in 1993, ETF has benefited both lecturers and students.
In 2011, it was renamed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
Over time, TETFund has supported lecturers’ research, grants, international studies, and more.
TETFund has also funded numerous iconic infrastructure projects across Nigeria’s higher institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and Colleges of Education.
These projects have transformed the learning environment, providing students with modern classrooms, administrative buildings, hostel accommodations, laboratories, and other essential facilities.
TETFund is a scheme established by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2011.
It is important to note that TETFund was established following the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ struggle to mitigate the funding challenges of public universities under a previous military regime.
The scheme’s main source of income is the two per cent education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria.
The scheme’s purpose is to disburse, manage, and monitor education tax to government-owned tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
However, it is perplexing that the proposed tax reform bill may jeopardise the funding for tertiary education institutions.
The government has threatened to stop funding non-performing CoEs established by TETFund.
This potential change raises concerns about the future of Nigeria’s higher education system.
This was in response to provisions within the Nigeria Tax Reform Bill 2024, currently before the National Assembly.
The bill includes a key issue in Section 59 (3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which details how the Development Levy, an education tax that currently funds TETFund, will be distributed starting in 2025.
According to the proposed bill, TETFund will receive 50 per cent of the Development Levy in 2025 and 2026, with NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND receiving the remaining percentages.
However, by 2030, NELFUND is set to receive 100 per cent of the levy, while TETFund, NASENI, and NITDA will receive nothing.
Reacting to the proposed bill, national president, National Association of Nigerian Students, Lucky Emonefe, voiced strong opposition to the proposal that would prioritise a student loan scheme at the expense of the TetFund, which had been instrumental in funding educational infrastructure, research, and the development of teaching staff.
He stressed that eliminating TetFund would have a detrimental impact on the country’s educational infrastructure.
“You said 2030, but what will happen to our school infrastructure by then?
“We didn’t support this idea because NELFUND (the proposed student loan scheme) and TETFund serve different, complementary purposes.”
NELFUND is designed to provide financial support to students through loans, while TETFund is focused on improving the physical infrastructure of educational institutions and enhancing the capacity of lecturers through research funding.
According to NANS, both are vital for building a robust educational system.
Emonefe reiterated that this sentiment was echoed during a pre-convention meeting in Lagos, where NANS executives made it clear that both initiatives should coexist.
“The two can exist together because infrastructure is one of the foundations for building a better educational system,” he explained.
He added that, while NELFUND aimed to assist students financially, it did not address critical issues such as the physical learning environment or the professional development of lecturers.
“The lecturers’ capacity to engage in research and contribute to academic growth is crucial. NELFUND does not address that,” he noted.
Emonefe revealed that NANS disagrees with any proposal to dismantle TETFund, a vital agency that had supported the development of campuses and improved the working conditions for lecturers.
He said, “You can’t just eradicate TETFund. It’s one of the agencies taking care of infrastructure and research in our institutions.
“If both agencies are funded, our educational system would experience a real turnaround,” he said.
He added that NANS had made it clear that they would not allow the decay of infrastructure in Nigerian institutions in the name of loans.
Emonefe said, “We love the idea of a student loan, but we cannot compromise on the importance of infrastructure
“The two must go hand in hand.”
The position taken by NANS also aligned with the stance of the ASUU.
ASUU warned that abolishing TETFund would severely harm Nigerian public universities and turn them into “objects of shame.”
ASUU Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Prof Adelaja Odukoya, criticised the proposal to replace TETFund with the National Education Loan Fund under the Tax Bill 2024.
In a speech titled ‘Abrogating TETFund: A Death Knell for Public University Education in Nigeria’, Odukoya described the proposal as “sacrilegious and deeply unpatriotic.”
He said, “It cannot be overemphasised that without TETFund, Nigerian public universities would have gone the way of the public primary and secondary schools that have become objects of national shame.“It is no gainsaying that several public universities especially those owned by states have literally become TETFund universities as majorities of their structures, laboratories and funds for the training of academics are from TETFund yearly interventions.
“To now contemplate abrogating TETFund and replace it with National Education Loan Fund under the Tax Bill 2024 is, to say the least highly sacrilegious and most unpatriotic.”
Odukoya emphasised that TETFund has, for over a decade, played a crucial role in addressing the infrastructure crisis in public tertiary institutions, which resulted from chronic underfunding.
Also speaking, a distinguished Professor of Law and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Developmental Studies, University of Lagos, Prof. Ayodele Atsenuwa, expressed concerns over the potential discontinuation of TetFund grants to Nigerian universities.
Speaking on the critical role TetFund plays in university development, Atsenuwa stressed the importance of maintaining these grants to avoid detrimental effects on the country’s higher education system.
“The whole concept of TetFund was introduced by the ASUU as a way to augment what the government could provide for universities,” Atsenuwa explained.
He went on to emphasise that the grants were essential for improving infrastructure and research capacities across the nation’s universities.
Atsenuwa acknowledged that there had been significant advocacy and efforts aimed at demonstrating the negative impact that discontinuing TetFund would have.
She expressed optimism that the government would reconsider any decision to remove the fund, given the ongoing efforts to raise awareness about its importance.
She said, “We do hope that the TetFund grants will not be stopped. The fund has been a vital resource for the advancement of higher education in Nigeria.
“It will be deleterious to completely take it away, and I am confident that the government will look into this issue carefully.”
