ASUU warns of imminent crisis in Nigerian universities

…condemns move to replace TETFund with NELFUND
…seeks Senate’s protection for tertiary institutions

By Ukpono Ukpong

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised the alarm over the potential collapse of Nigeria’s public tertiary education system if the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024, is passed in its current form.

The union described the proposed abrogation of the Education Tax, which funds the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), as a dangerous move that could cripple the country’s higher education sector.

In a letter addressed to the Senate President, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed deep concerns about the bill’s provisions, which would gradually strip TETFund of its financial backbone and ultimately eliminate its funding by 2030.

He warned that such a move would have dire consequences on the development and sustainability of tertiary education in Nigeria.

According to ASUU, TETFund has been the backbone of infrastructural development, postgraduate training, and research capacity building in public tertiary institutions for over 15 years.

The union noted that more than 90 percent of capital projects in state and federal colleges of education, polytechnics, and universities have been TETFund-sponsored.

Furthermore, Osodeke criticized the bill’s provision to divert the Education Tax, now termed Development Levy, to fund the newly created Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

He cited Section 59(3) of the proposed bill, which states that only 50% of the Development Levy would be allocated to TETFund in 2025 and 2026, with the remaining funds shared among NITDA, NISENI, and NELFUND. The allocation would increase to 66.7% between 2027 and 2029 but drop to zero by 2030.

“With all sense of responsibility, ASUU finds this development not only worrisome but also inimical to our national development objective,” the union stated in the letter.

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The union argued that diverting any portion of the Education Tax to another agency not covered by the TETFund Act of 2011 is illegal. It maintained that TETFund, as a creation of an Act, can not survive without its statutory funding and that depriving it of funds is a deliberate attempt to render it defunct.

“Giving zero allocation of Development Levy to TETFund as from 2030 is a technical way of abrogating the agency; the purported admonishment that TETFund should seek innovative ways of generating its funds is spurious and ill-advised because, as a creation of an Act, the institution dies without the fund,” ASUU argued.

The union also likened the move to “killing a parent to keep a newborn child alive,” describing it as unethical and contrary to the principles of natural justice.

It emphasized that while NELFUND may have been created to support students through loan schemes, it should not come at the expense of TETFund, which has played a crucial role in sustaining tertiary education in Nigeria.

Osodeke stressed that TETFund has had a transformative impact on public tertiary institutions, facilitating the construction of lecture halls, hostels, libraries, and laboratories. He noted that its interventions have significantly improved academic staff training, reducing industrial actions in the sector.

“Annual supports given to tertiary institutions by TETFund have substantially reduced industrial crises in many tertiary institutions; renovation of old facilities and provision of new ones and opportunities for staff development leading to career advancement have doused labour-related agitations on our campuses,” the letter read.

The union further highlighted that TETFund’s impact extends beyond tertiary education, indirectly benefiting primary and secondary schools by producing quality teachers and education support staff.

ASUU also pointed out that the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) was modeled after TETFund and has been a source of inspiration for other African countries.

While lamenting that when other nations are studying Nigeria’s model for improving their educational funding, the federal government is taking steps to dismantle its own successful framework.

“The Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) borrowed from the Nigerian experience while some other African countries have recently visited to understudy TETFund; Nigeria should be improving on the operations and sustainability of the agency, not planning to emasculate or abrogate it,” ASUU stated.

The union warned that scrapping TETFund’s funding would have long-term negative effects, including a sharp decline in the quality of education, increased brain drain, and further infrastructural decay in universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.

ASUU also argued that without TETFund, institutions would struggle to fund research and postgraduate training, leading to a drastic decline in academic output and global competitiveness.

The union urged the National Assembly to take a firm stand against the proposed reallocation of Education Tax funds and ensure that TETFund remains financially sustainable.

“Your Excellency, ASUU is deeply concerned about TETFund because it is a positive testament to our constructive engagements with Nigerian governments since 1992. It is our considered view that abrogating the TETFund Act 2011, by design or default, will be a great disservice not just to education but to Nigeria as a nation,” the letter stated.

The union called on lawmakers to resist any policy changes that could undermine Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, urging them to uphold their responsibility in protecting institutions that have contributed to national development.

“We therefore pray the National Assembly to do all within its capacity to protect TETFund from being abrogated under the Nigeria Tax Bill, 2024,” ASUU concluded.