The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has achieved groundbreaking progress in Nigeria’s higher education landscape under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, according to university scholar Prof. Dapo Thomas.
Prof. Thomas, from the Department of History and International Studies at Lagos State University (LASU), made this assertion while delivering a paper titled “The Achievements of TETFund under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration” during the 2025 TETFund Board of Trustees Southwest Town-Hall Meeting held at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State.
The meeting was convened by Honourable Sunday Adepoju, the Southwest representative on the TETFund Board of Trustees.
According to Thomas, TETFund’s record in the past two years has underscored the Federal Government’s “transformative and interventionist” resolve to revitalize tertiary education through sustained funding, research promotion, and infrastructure renewal.
“It would be mischievous to de-market TETFund at a time it deserves to be honoured for its exceptional and outstanding performance,” he said, adding that the evidence of its impact “is sufficiently strewn in every corner of Nigeria.”
He pointed out that TETFund’s strides have attracted both domestic and international recognition. In February 2025, New Telegraph Newspaper awarded TETFund the “Most Improved Government Agency of the Year 2024,” applauding its commitment to research, innovation, and institutional development.
Likewise, ThisDay Newspaper named President Bola Tinubu as its Man of the Year 2024 for his contributions to restructuring the education sector in line with his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Thomas highlighted that the Tinubu administration set aside ₦940.5 billion for TETFund in the 2025 budget — describing the allocation as “an unmistakable signal of the President’s resolve to elevate tertiary education to global standards.”
He revealed that in under two years, TETFund has completed 687 capital projects in tertiary institutions across the country.
These projects include lecture halls, student hostels, senate complexes, medical centres, and other critical facilities to advance teaching and research conditions.
TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono, was recently conferred with the 2024 Anthology Visionary Award in Orlando, United States, for spearheading educational transformation through technology.
In his acceptance address, Echono acknowledged President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda as the driver of the Fund’s digital innovation programmes, notably the initiative aimed at ensuring every Nigerian graduate attains digital literacy before graduation.
“In today’s digital world, proficiency in digital literacy is not just beneficial; it is essential for academic success and employability,” Echono was quoted as saying.
The collaboration between TETFund, Anthology, and Blackboard came after the October 2023 unveiling of the Tertiary Education Research and Application System (TERAS) and the Beneficiaries Identity Management System (BIMS) by Education Minister Prof. Tahir Mamman.
‘N100 Billion Medical Sciences Intervention’
TETFund’s intervention in medical education has seen N100 billion channelled into selected tertiary institutions to expand training in health-related fields. Acting on President Tinubu’s directive, the Fund made the disbursement to improve capacity in medical sciences.
Three universities in each geopolitical zone received N4 billion each to scale up admissions and training in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and laboratory sciences.
Thomas cited notable outcomes of the scheme, including the milestone at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, which carried out its first kidney transplant at the TETFund Centre of Excellence in Urology and Nephrology.
“This breakthrough reflects TETFund’s deepening investment in cutting-edge research and innovation,” he stated.
To further strengthen research and innovation, President Tinubu approved N4.25 billion for 158 projects under the TETFund-managed National Research Fund cycle.
The grants cover applied research in critical national areas including energy, healthcare, agriculture, security, and employment generation.
Prof. Thomas concluded that TETFund has emerged as a key “change agent” in reversing decline within Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, anchored by the vision and support of President Tinubu.
“TETFund is fixing the decay in all ramifications through a government intolerant of stagnation and decadence,” he said.
