Vice-Chancellor wants TETFUND Act to accommodate Private Universities

The Vice-Chancellor of Ojaja University, Eiyenkorin, Ilorin, in Kwara State North Central Nigeria, Professor Jeleel Ojuade, has called on the National Assembly to amend the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) Act to accommodate private universities in its intervention projects.

Ojuade made the call at a press conference to herald his university’s maiden and combined convocation ceremony taking place on Saturday, October 12th, 2024.

He said a certain percentage of the funds TETFUND earmarks annually for projects in public universities and the like should be dedicated to private universities because of their support to grow education in the country.

The vice-chancellor said it would be unfair to exclude private universities from the TETFUND intervention.

“I think the National Assembly should look into the Act that established TETFUND, which concentrates its intervention only on public universities and other educational institutions of government. There should be a particular amount of money that would go to private universities,” Ojuade added.

Lamenting wasteful spending on politics, the Vice-Chancellor said the time has come for the government at all levels to adequately fund education.

He said, “When you look at this country, the money we spend on politics is greater than what we give to education. At least, we need to dedicate five percent of our earnings from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to education.

“Unfortunately, what we do in this country, especially members of the political class is to use key stakeholders in the academia to achieve their goals. The era of using Professors to do this and that is gone. Our education needs to be properly funded.

“Why we need to fund education is to be concerned about the future of our kids, the generation after us. The numbers of universities we have are still not enough when compared with our population.”

The VC bemoaned the adverse effects of fuel subsidy on the economy, saying that it is affecting the running of his institution.

The Vice-chancellor said the convocation ceremony is for 183 graduands of 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic sessions.