The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has commissioned projects valued at N7 billion at the Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU) in Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
The Chairman of TETFund’s Board of Trustees, Aminu Masari, inaugurated five projects spread across the university’s Ikot Akpaden and Obio Akpan campuses, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday.
The commissioned projects include classroom blocks, administrative buildings, laboratories and conveniences.
“The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has inaugurated projects valued N7 billion at the Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU), in Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
“Aminu Masari, the Chairman, TETFund Board of Trustees, stated this while inaugurating five projects at the Ikot Akpaden and Obio Akpan campuses of the university.
“The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the projects were mainly classroom blocks, administrative buildings, laboratories and conveniences,” the NAN report read in part.
Masari announced during the inauguration that the agency has temporarily suspended foreign training programmes due to the rising cost of overseas training and high foreign exchange rates. He said funds are being redirected to special intervention projects that will have a more immediate impact on Nigerian institutions.
“Following the high foreign exchange rates and the rising cost of overseas training, TETFund has temporarily suspended foreign training programmes. We are channeling resources into impactful special interventions that will yield significant dividends in the near future,” Masari stated.
Masari said TETFund remained committed to the prudent use of resources in delivering its interventions, noting that Akwa Ibom State University has been a key beneficiary of the agency’s efforts to strengthen infrastructure and research capacity in public tertiary institutions nationwide.
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The Vice Chancellor of AKSU, Prof. Nse Essien, lauded TETFund for the projects, describing them as vital to academic growth.
He explained that the new facilities would foster innovation, support advanced research, and position the university to address both regional and global challenges.
Essien also called for additional support in critical areas such as ICT infrastructure, digital libraries, student accommodation and postgraduate research facilities to build on the gains made with the recently commissioned projects.
What you should know
For the 2025 fiscal year, the Federal Government allocated N940.5 billion to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to strengthen manpower development and infrastructure in Nigeria’s higher education sector.
- In January 2024, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced that TETFund would place a moratorium on financing new construction projects in 2025.
- He explained that intervention funds will instead be directed toward the rehabilitation and upgrading of existing facilities across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
The minister said this decision, approved by President Bola Tinubu, is aimed at ensuring that hostels, lecture theatres, laboratories, classrooms and administrative offices in public tertiary institutions are better maintained for more effective use of resources.
