The Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has strongly advised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to compromise Nigeria’s educational system by blindly adhering to policies recommended by the International Monetary Fund.
This came as the union expressed concerns over the proposed abolition of TETFund and its replacement with NELFUND in the 2024 Public Benefit and Taxation Bill.
At a press conference on Sunday, ASUU leaders from various universities in the Ibadan Zone, including the University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osun State University, Kwara State University, and Emmanuel Alayande University of Education, called attention to the risks of dismantling TETFund. The briefing was attended by prominent ASUU figures, including Prof. Ayoola Akinwole, Dr. Alex Akanmu, Dr. Dada Olujinmi, Dr. Wende Olaosebikan, Dr. Shehu Salau, and Dr. Bamidele Ojo, all led by Zonal Coordinator Professor Oyegoke Oyebamiji.
The union emphasized that TETFund, established by ASUU, has significantly contributed to the improvement of infrastructure, capacity building, and research in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. TETFund’s support in upgrading laboratories, libraries, and e-libraries has been vital for enhancing the quality of education. ASUU argued that replacing TETFund with NELFUND would be detrimental to the future of public education in Nigeria, describing the move as both retrogressive and harmful to the system.
ASUU also criticized the proposed reduction in funding for TETFund, with Section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024 suggesting that only 50% of the Education Tax would be allocated to TETFund in 2025 and 2026, while other agencies such as NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND would receive a portion of the remaining funds. ASUU stated that this shift would undermine the educational system, as it would divert resources away from critical education infrastructure and programs.
The union also expressed alarm at the proposed gradual reduction of TETFund’s allocation, which could lead to the agency receiving no funding after 2030. This, ASUU warned, would effectively dismantle the agency and could lead to the destruction of public tertiary education in the country.
Drawing a comparison with Ghana, which recently established the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) based on Nigeria’s experience, ASUU voiced concern that while other countries are learning from Nigeria’s successful model, the Nigerian government is planning to dismantle a vital institution that has supported public universities for over three decades.
The union leaders highlighted the potential negative consequences of abolishing TETFund, including loss of critical funding, disruption of ongoing projects, and a negative impact on research and development. They also warned of the increased financial burden on students and parents, the undermining of university autonomy, and potential job losses for employees within TETFund.
ASUU urged the National Assembly and the Federal Government to reconsider the proposal to abolish TETFund and instead focus on strengthening the agency to ensure continued support for tertiary education in Nigeria.
ASUU noted that “TETFund which is the brainchild of the Union has greatly helped in improving infrastructural development in Nigerian tertiary institutions, aided capacity building of members of academic staff, contributed immensely to promotion of cutting-edge researches, assisted in organizing seminars, workshops and learned conferences both locally and internationally, helped in equipping scanty scientific and engineering laboratories, helped in purchasing books to stock obsolete libraries and useful in providing state-of-art e-libraries in Nigerian tertiary institutions, to mention but a few.
“ASUU notes with serious concern, Section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024 which specifically states that only 50% of the Development Levy would be made available to TETFund in 2025 and 2026, while NITDA, NASENI, and NELFUND would share the remaining percentages”.
Professor Oyebamiji stated that a “government that allocates 7% of budget to education, as against the 15% in its manifesto during campaign and over 20% recommended by UNESCO should be resisted from commercializing public education they had benefited so much from to be who and where they are in Nigeria and the rest of the world.
“TETFund will also receive “66⅔% in 2027, 2028 and 2029 years of assessment” but “0% in 2030 year of assessment and thereafter”. Giving zero allocation of Development Levy to TETFund as from 2030 is a technical way of abrogating the agency and public tertiary education in the country. The purported admonishment that TETFund should seek innovative ways of generating its funds is a confirmation of the say of a one-time Vice-Chancellor of the premier university of Nigeria, who observed, ‘all things bright and beautiful, Nigerians destroy them all’. If Tetfund as a creation of an Act is technically killed through the proposed Tax Reform, then how can a dead agency devise an innovative means of generating its funds?”