20, January 2025
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ibadan Zone, has urged President Bola Tinubu to protect Nigeria’s educational landscape from the potential pitfalls of International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies.
The union, representing prestigious institutions such as the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, and several others, yesterday, convened a press conference to voice their concerns regarding the proposed dissolution of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in favour of the newly suggested National Education and Learning Fund (NELFUND).
The proposal, the union said, was part of the 2024 Public Benefit and Taxation Bill (PBTB), which they claimed posed significant risks to the future of public education in Nigeria
The press conference, led by the Zonal Coordinator of the union, Professor Oyegoke Oyebamiji, highlighted the vital role TETFund has played in enhancing the infrastructure of Nigerian tertiary institutions.
“TETFund, born from the advocacy of this very union, has been instrumental in fostering academic excellence, promoting groundbreaking research, and equipping our laboratories and libraries,” stated Professor Oyebamiji.
He emphasised that replacing TETFund with NELFUND is akin to “cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face,” warning that such a move would be regressive
and detrimental to Nigeria’s educational prospects.
The union expressed grave concerns over provisions in the Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024, which stipulated that only 50% of the Education Tax Development Levy would be allocated to TETFund in 2025 and 2026, with the remainder diverted to agencies not aligned with TETFund’s mission.
The diversion, they argued, was not only illegal but undermined the very foundation of public education funding, which has already been neglected by successive governments.
Professor Oyebamiji criticised the government’s current budget allocation of a mere 7% to education, far below the 15% commitment made during their campaign and the 20% threshold recommended by UNESCO.
He pointed out that such a drastic reduction in funding, especially with projections indicating a complete cessation of TETFund support by 2030, could spell disaster for Nigeria’s public universities.
The union leaders lamented that while Ghana has recently established the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), learning from Nigeria’s model, the Nigerian government is contemplating dismantling an agency that has sustained public universities for over thirty years.
ASUU outlined several dire consequences should TETFund be abolished, including loss of critical funding, disruption of ongoing projects, negative impact on research and development, increased burden on students and parents, undermining of university autonomy, and potential job losses for TETFund employees.
The union, however, implored the National Assembly and the Federal Government to reconsider the proposed changes and instead work diligently to bolster TETFund, ensuring its vital role in the future of tertiary education in Nigeria.
The conference was attended by prominent figures from various universities within the Ibadan Zone, including Prof. Ayoola Akinwole (ASUU-UI); Dr. Alex Akanmu, (ASUU-UNILORIN) and others.
(www.naija247news.com)
