The Vice-Chancellor of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Professor Ayodeji Agboola, has appealed to the Federal Government to retain the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), describing it as a lifeline for infrastructural and academic development in Nigerian universities.
Prof. Agboola made the call during a courtesy visit by the Chairman, South-West Zone of the TETFund Board of Trustees, Hon. Sunday Adepoju, who was at the university to inspect ongoing and completed TETFund projects.
While commending the Federal Government for establishing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the Vice-Chancellor cautioned against any attempt to substitute or divert funding from TETFund in favour of the new initiative.
“TETFund remains the backbone of infrastructural growth and academic advancement in most public universities,” he said. “Phasing it out or slashing its funding to support NELFUND would be counterproductive. We need both to work hand-in-hand if we are serious about addressing the challenges facing our tertiary institutions.”
The VC noted that many universities, including OOU, owe their survival to the interventions provided by TETFund — ranging from capital projects to capacity-building programmes for academic staff.
“I personally benefited from a TETFund-sponsored PhD at the University of Nottingham. A good number of our lecturers have accessed funding for research, conferences, and postgraduate training through the same platform. Without TETFund, many of the facilities you see here today would not exist,” he stated.
He stressed that while NELFUND may help reduce financial barriers for students, it cannot address infrastructural deficits or improve academic standards without the support of a robust intervention agency like TETFund.
“Olabisi Onabanjo University receives over 35,000 applications annually, yet we can only admit about 7,000 due to infrastructural constraints. Funding student loans without fixing capacity challenges is like filling a leaking bucket,” he warned.
Professor Agboola urged the Federal Government to allow both TETFund and NELFUND to operate concurrently, saying the synergy between the two would reduce dropout rates and enhance the quality of higher education.
Hon. Sunday Adepoju, who led the TETFund delegation, expressed satisfaction with the execution of projects at the institution. He commended the university’s management for judicious use of the intervention funds and for completing projects within schedule.
“We are highly impressed with what we’ve seen here,” Adepoju said. “There are no abandoned projects or lapses in implementation. OOU has set a standard in the South-West zone.”
The visit reaffirmed the critical role of collaborative efforts between government agencies and tertiary institutions in driving educational development across the country.
