Over the years, TETFund has been one of the leading propelling forces toward the development of Nigeria’s tertiary education. The Trust Fund was established to complement those that were fundedby the government. It has played a vital role in reviving the quality of education, research, and infrastructure in the various universities,polytechnics, and colleges of education in Nigeria. At the helm of affairs of this institution is the Executive Secretary, Sunday Echono, who has injected a transformational vision to FUND and has navigated it through various challenges into a critical driver of
Education advancement in Nigeria.
Sunday Echeno’s Achievements and Vision for TETFund
When he came into office as the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Nigeria’s tertiary education system was confronted with all manner of challenges that bordered on chronic under funding, decaying
infrastructure,and even brain drain. But since coming into office, Echono has made his mission to adopt proactive and strategic approaches toward surmounting these challenges.
Perhaps his greatest achievement so far into his administration has been an increase in budgetary allocation to tertiary institutions. Echono, who quite readily acknowledged the deplorable state of infrastructure in many schools, emerged with a commitment to disbursing billions of naira toward improving facilities. These have included the construction of new lecture theatres, laboratories and libraries, as well as renovation work on existing structures. This has translated into an improved learning environment in most Nigerian institutions of repute, thereby enhancing learning outcomes.
Enhancing Academic Staff Development
Another influence Echono has made very well is in the area of academic staff development. Realizing this, the quality of education is directly proportional to the quality of educators. TETFund, under his
leadership upped the ante in ensuring that scholarships and grants were given to lecturers to pursue advanced degrees and specialized training, both nationally and internationally. The ripple effects of this undertaking are reflected in an improved quality of teaching and learning, as well as a growing number of Nigerian academics publishing to add to the knowledge base of the world.
Promotion of Research and Innovation
Perhaps one of the most visionary aspects of leadership at Echo is his emphasis on research and innovation. TETFund has always been supportive of research activities at the nation’s tertiary institutions, but under Echono, there is more determination and poise to release more funding for research into topical areas that are Nigeria-specific. This encompasses the funding of research works in
agriculture, health,technology, and the environment. By fostering a culture of research and innovation, he said, Echono is helping to position Nigeria’s universities as leaders in finding solutions to local and
global challenges.
Special Intervention Projects Introduction
Another major intervention area that the Echono administration has pursued in the course of his tenure as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission is that of special intervention projects. These are projects targeted at addressing specific needs within the tertiary education system, such as the establishment of centers of excellence at selected institutions located to focus on areas of
crucial relevance to national development. The administration of Echono has also taken the lead in activities geared toward ameliorating students’ welfare through funding projects that would provide
improved housing, health care facilities, and other basic services on campuses.
Financing of Tertiary Education Institutions in Nigeria: Bridging the Financial Gap
Funding of tertiary institutions has always been a battle that seems unending in Nigeria. As important as the establishment of TETFund was, it surely could not keep pace with the growing demand by
these institutions for more funds. Under his leadership, TETFund has striven to ensure that its funds are judiciously distributed to attend to the most urgent needs.
Perhaps one of the major strategies that Echono has employed is the strategic resource allocation for TETFund. Through proper needs assessment, TETFund has successfully prioritized the most promising projects to positively impact the improvement of educational outcomes.
In addition to the infrastructure projects, the need has been felt to further invest in teaching and learning resources such as textbooks, laboratory equipment, and information technology. There has been emphasis on the creation of an integrated educational environment that will cater for the needs of students and lecturers alike.
Partnership leveraging private sector.
Echono equally realized that TETFund could not singularly bridge the funding gaps, and as such, he was quite aggressive in seeking partnership with the private sector to bring in more resources. These partnerships range from corporate sponsorships to joint research initiatives going down to infrastructure projects. In doing this, private sector involvement attracted additional much-needed funds while fostering closer links between academia and industry.
Inadequate Funding and Resources Allocation
The problems that have bedeviled TETFund and Nigeria’s tertiary education system are so complexly interwoven, despite the landmark successes that were recorded under the leadership of Sunday Echono, lot of challenges were still to be surmounted.
Chief among these remains inadequate funding. While the TETFund has no doubt brought a remarkable face lift to most institutions, the reality remains that the demand for higher education in Nigeria is growing at an exponential rate. This places enormous pressure on available resources, thus crowded classrooms, an inadequacy of teaching staff,and poor facilities characterize some of these institutions.
Echono acknowledged this challenge from the word go and made frantic efforts to stretch TETFund’s resources as far as possible; the acute need for alternative sources remains very critical.
Administrative Obstacles and Delays
Another major challenge is the inefficient administrative processes that delay disbursement and utilization of the funds. Accessing and mobilizing resources from TETFund is therefore not always smooth, as instances of delays by administrative bottlenecks in institutions do occur. While
Echono has tried to get these processes smoothed out within TETFund, the larger challenge of inefficiency within the broader bureaucracy for education remains.
Maintenance Culture and Sustainability
A similar problem is that many institutions lack a maintenance culture. For as long as TETFund intervenes, even with new infrastructures or equipment, there is failure to maintain the investments; hence, facilities deteriorate at alarming rates. Echono insisted that institutions must develop and implement sustainability strategies by adopting maintenance plans and practices. The entrenching of behavior and attitude change towards facility management is still an ongoing challenge.
Digital Transformation and the Future of Education
Beyond these challenges, the system of tertiary education in Nigeria is presently facing the tide of change brought by digitization. Most of the institutions in Nigeria are inadequately prepared infrastructurally and technologically to accept full online learning. For this reason, Echono has begun to brainstorm ways through which TETFund can support the digital transformation of such institutions. This includes investment in ICT infrastructure, training for educators in digital pedagogies, and in the development of online learning platforms. Be that as it may, not withstanding the foregoing challenges, the progress that has been made under the leadership of Sunday has been nothing short of remarkable. For a country that has grown accustomed to hearing bad news about its institutions
of higher learning, the increased attention paid to research and innovation began to pay dividends as Nigerian universities recorded breakthroughs in many areas of academic specialization.With improved
infrastructure in most institutions, students have had a environment to learn, hence making access to tertiary education more inclusive and efficient. The effort of Echono to engage the private sector in
funding tertiary education has also begun to yield positive results, as collaboration on various projects provided resources for research and development.
