By Tersoo Adagher
Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed workplace practically a yr in the past, a number of makes an attempt have been made to disrupt governance and undermine the insurance policies of this younger administration. A troubling tactic on this marketing campaign has been the deliberate concentrating on and demonization of key authorities officers, presumably to maintain them on their toes. Amongst these chosen for this marketing campaign is Arc Sonny T. Echono, the Government Secretary of the Tertiary Schooling Belief Fund (TETFund).
The commendations for TETFund’s diligent efforts to reshape our public tertiary establishments are well-deserved. This was particularly evident in the course of the current TETFund Analysis Honest and Exhibition in Abuja, which showcased important developments in science and know-how in Nigeria. By uniting researchers, entrepreneurs, and most people, TETFund is efficiently bridging the hole between educational analysis and sensible utility. This occasion allowed attendees to interact with Nigeria’s prime improvements, demonstrating the company’s dedication to enhancing the nation’s instructional panorama. It’s disheartening, then, to witness the current uncharitable denigration of TETFund by a small group of people who look like pushed by political agendas.
One significantly egregious allegation got here from Mrs. Patricia Yakubu, the APC Girl Chief in Adamawa State, who accused TETFund of financially supporting the APC Adamawa Chapter. These accusations are usually not solely baseless but in addition defamatory, clearly designed to tarnish the status of Arc Echono and TETFund. Such claims are indicative of an try and embroil this esteemed establishment in a purely political squabble.
The assertion that TETFund is financially backing the APC in Adamawa defies logic. As a essential intervention company within the training sector, TETFund doesn’t award contracts straight. As a substitute, it’s the beneficiary establishments that undertake procurement procedures as set out by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), subsequently awarding contracts to probably the most certified distributors.
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Final yr, President Tinubu praised TETFund for its foresight and dedication to service supply in the course of the commissioning of initiatives funded by the company in public tertiary instructional establishments nationwide. Represented by members of his cupboard at numerous venture websites, the President expressed satisfaction with the initiatives which might be set to reinforce educating and studying, thereby bettering educational requirements throughout the board. He assured that his administration would proceed to offer obligatory assist to make sure Nigerian instructional establishments change into globally aggressive, fostering financial and technological development.
The Nationwide Meeting, below the management of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, has additionally voiced its unwavering assist for TETFund. They’ve pledged to enact laws that can additional advance tertiary training in Nigeria. Initiatives price over N650 million on the College of Ibadan and N1 billion at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, are testaments to this dedication. Different states have additionally witnessed important investments in training, together with over N4.5 billion allotted to Gombe State College and greater than N2 billion for numerous initiatives on the Federal College of Expertise, Abeokuta.
Beneath Arc Echono’s management, TETFund can also be addressing the urgent problem of youth unemployment in Nigeria. The company is implementing suggestions from its Graduate Employability Benchmark Program, carried out in collaboration with the Worldwide Finance Company (IFC). This initiative goals to enhance employability outcomes for graduates and was spurred by an IFC report indicating that Nigerian establishments rating barely above the worldwide common in numerous employability dimensions.
As TETFund refocuses its actions on studying outcomes and employability, its progressive management below Arc Echono has garnered reward from a number of stakeholders within the training sector. The Nationwide Affiliation of Nigerian College students (NANS) just lately recommended TETFund for being a “driving pressure” behind the development of upper training in Nigeria.
Drawing from his intensive expertise as a former Everlasting Secretary within the Federal Civil Service, Echono is devoted to remodeling TETFund right into a mannequin of excellence in tertiary training funding. Professor Lilian Salami, former Vice-Chancellor of the College of Benin, acknowledged that TETFund below Echono is driving essential instructional reforms and restoring integrity to the sector.
To those that search to undermine Echono’s efforts, I urge them to think about the knowledge within the saying, “It isn’t within the nature of worms to show eagles the right way to fly.” Though detractors might bark, they can’t deter the caravan from its path. The managers of TETFund are skilled, targeted, and dedicated to creating a constructive impression of their mandate. They’re making exceptional strides, and no quantity of deceitful rhetoric from faceless critics can derail their mission to revitalize Nigeria’s tertiary establishments.
TERSOO ADAGHER, A Public Affairs Analyst, writes from Abuja.