The Centre for Public Accountability has described the Tertiary Education Trust Fund as a critical lifeline sustaining Nigeria’s struggling higher education sector, warning that many public tertiary institutions would have faced deeper infrastructural decay and academic setbacks without the agency’s interventions.
Speaking during a virtual press conference on Thursday, the Executive Director of CPA, Olufemi Lawson, said findings from the organisation’s independent assessment showed that TETFund has remained indispensable to the survival and development of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
Lawson said the civil society organisation undertook months of investigative and monitoring activities across Nigeria to evaluate TETFund’s projects, transparency, institutional performance and service delivery under the leadership of the Fund’s Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono.
According to him, the assessment involved researchers, policy analysts, education experts, procurement observers and field investigators, who engaged with tertiary institution administrators, lecturers, students, contractors and host communities nationwide.
“Our findings indicate that TETFund has continued to play a strategic and indispensable role in the growth and development of tertiary education in Nigeria,” Lawson stated.
