Former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has raised the alarm over what he described as a systematic erosion of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund’s, TETFund, independence and resources, warning that the ongoing diversion of funds to other government initiatives could cripple Nigeria’s tertiary education system.
Speaking at a National Town Hall Meeting organized by TETFund in Abuja, on Wednesday, Osodeke cautioned that the latest fiscal arrangements, which channel all education tax collections into a common pool, have effectively reduced TETFund’s statutory allocation from 3 per cent to 2 per cent, thereby weakening the agency’s capacity to fund critical interventions.
“In each of our agreements, TETFund is supposed to stand on its own. But what we have done now has clear implications. Whether we like it or not, TETFund’s allocation has been reduced,” he declared.