The Chairman Board of Trustees of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, has disclosed that this year over 30 billion Naira was budgeted for security-related interventions in tertiary education campuses across the country.
Masari disclosed this in an interview with newsmen following a stakeholders town hall meeting organized by the Board of Trustees of the Fund which was held in Lagos.
He noted that the intervention has gone a long way in safeguarding students, staffers, and other personnel residing in or working on tertiary education campuses.
"The intervention was part of efforts by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to provide a safe and conducive learning environment in the country's higher institutions.
"Just as we made a budget line for electricity on campuses, we also deemed it fit to make a budget line for security considering the need for safe and secure campuses, students and academic staffers need a secure environment to carry out their academic activities.
"Universities and other higher institutions utilized this intervention to provide solar street lights, fencing and other projects that will enhance security on their campuses", he pointed out.
Masari also commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the support his administration is providing to TETFund which is borne out of the President's passion to transform tertiary education in the country.
He cited the President's approval of 50 percent Development Levy for TETFund under the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024, which will become operational from January 2025, noting that the provision will provide a post for TETFund's interventions.
The TETFund Board of Trustees Chairman explained that the town hall meeting was convened to provide an avenue for the Fund to inform stakeholders in the country's tertiary education sector of its interventions with a view to carrying them along in the its operations.
He explained that the town hall meetings also provide a platform for the stakeholders make observations and suggestions on ways to improve the operations of the Fund with a view to making its impact more far-reaching across all its areas of intervention.
"It is a platform that brings all policy makers in Nigeria's tertiary education under one roof, we have the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on TETFund, the Board of Trustees and management of TETFund, ASUU, the committee of Vice Chancellors, students, and other key stakeholders.
"We update them on what TETFund does, and we also hear from them, we share ideas and we receive suggestions and inputs from them, the aim is to have a more inclusive TETFund that makes policies which reflect the various interests within the tertiary education sub-sector.
"It also serves as a forum for discourse on issues that are on the front burner of tertiary education, we want our tertiary institutions to compete globally in terms of research, manpower and infrastructure, we use fora like these to set the agenda on to achieve this.
"Mr. President is very passionate about the development of this sector, he gives us all the necessary cooperation particularly in terms of increased funding and moral and administrative support to enable the Fund to fulfil its mandate", Masari said.
