Jacob Ogodo, Abakaliki
As a result of the high level of decay of existing buildings in public institutions, federal government
has directed that the 2025 TETFUND intervention allocation for physical infrastructure be utilized for the comprehensive rehabilitation/upgrade of old dilapidating infrastructures,
It maintained that no new structures should be built with the upcoming year 2025 TETFund allocations for physical infrastructure.
The Executive secretary of Tertiary Education fund, TETFUND, Arch. Sonny Echono who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Arch. Babatunde Olajide made this disclosure at the commissioning of TETFUND projects in Ebonyi state university, Abakaliki.
Echono explained that the purpose of the directive was to give the learning environment a facelift that is conducive for teaching, learning and research, comparable to what is obtainable abroad.
He said that under the “Renewed Hope” Agenda of the President Tinubu administration, government is poised at delivering a broad spectrum of innovative interventions through the Fund to enhance the quality of living and working.
Echono also said that government priorities are the execution of interventions that would address student hostel deficits, provision of power, and provision of world-class laboratory facilities, amongst others, noting that government seeks to ensure focussed utilization of funds that would deliver the right impact in the institutions of higher learning
He disclosed that they resolved that the interventions be sustained and improved upon as much as possible to enable institutions undertake bigger, and more laudable and impactful projects that will make them become globally competitive and situate them in enviable positions among their peers both nationally and globally.
He advised the university to ensure projects are executed without any form of delays to avoid the spiralling inflation that sets up projects for cost overrun.
“Government has directed that the 2025 intervention allocation for physical infrastructure be utilized for the comprehensive rehabilitation/upgrade of old dilapidating infrastructures, in view of the massive and embarrassing level of decay of existing buildings in our institutions.
“Consequently, no new structures are to be built with the upcoming year 2025 TETFund allocations for physical infrastructure.
“In this regard, government seeks to ensure focussed utilization of funds that would deliver the right impact in our institutions of higher learning.
Chairman, House of representative committee on TETFUND, Hon. Miriam Onuoha called for the sustenance of the fund in the tertiary institutions across the country, noting that rather than scrapping TETFUND, it should improved and sustained..
Onuoha described TETFUND as the life wire of tertiary education in the country and expressed the hope that President Bola Tinubu will not support the call by some persons in the country to scrap the fund.
She averred that if TETFUND is scrapped many people will be jobless as according to her, the fund has created a lot of jobs for Nigerians.
The vice chancellor, Ebonyi state university, Prof. Chigozie Ogbu called on TETFUND to 2025 grant special allocation to the university to complete the laboratory and zonal allocation to landscape the faculty of managent block.
Ogbu enumerated the projects to be commissioned to include lecture theatre for faculty of social sciences and humanities, two floor block for faculty of management science and two floor block with eight classrooms and twelve offices for faculty of sciences.
