Research: Nigeria yet to significantly benefit from intervention impact – Echono
By Doosuur Iwambe
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has said that Nigeria is yet to significantly benefit from the desired impact of research intervention lines.
TETFund Executive Secretary, Mr Sonny Echono, made this disclosure during a One-Day Meeting of the Heads of Beneficial Institutions in public tertiary institutions with the TETFund.
“Another area of concern to the TETFund is the Research intervention lines. From available data, the nation is yet to benefit significantly from the desired impact of this intervention line”, Echono said.
The TETFund boss while lamenting that the revenue collection of the fund had dropped from N257bn to N189bn said, the drop in revenue amounted to N68bn.
He however disclosed that in-spite of the drop, the fund was able to move from the N189 billion in 2021 to over N300 billion in 2022.
He said, “The increase in collection was expected to increase disbursement to beneficiary institutions in 2023. Our collections yield to our disbursement to you. We received N257billion in 2021 to only N189 billion which is a deficit or shortfall of N68 billion in revenue and this has impacted on what you get from us.
“Yet, I am pleased to report that despite this challenge, in the last eight months, we have disbursed more finds to you than any year in the establishment of the fund.
“Our primary duty is actually a disbursement agency and we are expected to ensure that this is done judiciously for the purposes of funding projects in the various institutions”.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to increased funding for education, and with the support of the National Assembly, the tax rate was increased from 2 to 2.5 per cent.According to him, this is a deliberate effort at mobilising resources for the fund.
He further disclosed that the meeting would be considering new pathways to achieving greater impact on the various research and development interventions.
”We are also for the first time adopting the bottom-up approach to the budgeting process for the year 2023 intervention cycle.
“As beneficiaries and institutions that execute the intervention lines, we will appreciate your inputs and suggestions for better delivery of the intervention budget.
“Other areas of deliberations will be promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and employability of graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions, feedback on the TETFund Skill G intervention project from inception till date and a brief presentation by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) on the procurement processes to facilitate speedy and seamless implementation of projects as chief accounting officers amongst others.
“Each topic will be anchored by identified players in those specific area of discussion, which we believe will spur robust interaction and actionable ideas for greater results.
“As your intervention agency, we have remained consistent in our drive and strive for excellence employing practical ways and solutions
towards repositioning and revitalizing our nation’s tertiary education system for the future generations to whom we owe this
Obligation.
“We are improving global competitiveness and visibility through our Capacity Building Programmes at various levels and different areas of national interest We are forging partnerships both locally and internationally for better access to quality resources and services. These partnerships have yielded some level of benefits for our TETFund Scholarship for Academic Staff intervention (TSAS).
“We have signed MOU with some foreign institutions that offer free tuitions and other incentives to our scholars who qualify for such benefits. We are making efforts to expand these partnerships and MOU’s to other critical areas such as research and innovation, Agriculture, Engineering and ICT.
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“The focus of the Year 2022 zonal intervention on improving and expanding our ICT capabilities is in recognition of the fact that the world has gone digital in practically all areas of human endeavors. We must therefore take deliberate steps to catch up with the rest of the world in the ICT space for needed national development, DailyTimesNGR gathered.
“At the Fund, we are reviewing our processes for enhanced and better services delivery to our beneficiary institution. We are currently re-working our 2007 edition of Guidelines for Disbursement and will make it available to you, when competed. We have also done some internal auditing of our staff to achieve better efficiency in the deployment to various departments of the Fund.
“We also requested you to do the same with respect to TETFund Desk officers and a summary of our expectation will also be presented at this forum. We are hopeful that these and other similar measures will place the Fund in a better position to discharge its mandate and functions to the nation.
“As we proceed with the meeting today, I anticipate a vibrant participatory discourse that will avail the Fund the opportunity of harnessing your end-user experiences, inputs, thoughts and immense contributions, while fostering a sense of ownership, to optimize the Fund’s overall impact”.
