The Chairman, 6th Governing Council, Federal College of Education (Technical), Umunze, Mr. Philips Shekwo, has praised Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for her numerous interventions in public tertiary institutions across the country. He said TETFund projects have helped to bridge the funding gap and addressed the challenge of inadequate infrastructure in benefitting institutions.
Hon Shekwo stated this recently, when he led other Council members to a symbolic handover of two gigantic buildings funded by TETFund at the Main Campus of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Umunze.
Other members of the Council present at the event include the representative of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs Lilian Haruna, the representative of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), Chief Jonathan Achumie, Ibrahim Radda, Hon Uche Anakor, the Registrar, Dr Augustine Udensi, the representative of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engineer Edmond Nkalu and Mrs Laeticia Ugwu, Dr Jane Chinyere Madichie, Dr A.T Nwamaradi. Also present at the event were the College Bursar, Dr. Patrick Omile, the Director of Works, Engineer Chike Mojekwu, among others.
The newly completed three-floor Computer Based Test Building 11 and three-floor staff office building were handed over to the Council and management of the college by the contractors that handled the projects. Another three-floor Computer Based Test Building 1 has also been completed and would soon be handed over to the institution.
Shekwo, who is also the Chairman, All Progressives Congress, Nasarawa State and former Commissioner for Higher Education in the state, expressed gladness that the Federal Government has demonstrated a strong commitment in addressing the challenges facing tertiary institutions in the country. He said the completion of these projects would increase the carrying capacity of the college, as to provide office accommodation for staff to perform their duties effectively.
“TETFund has done so well in promoting the standard of education. The provision of modern infrastructure for learning will help the college to deliver her mandate of providing quality teacher education in the country,” he said.
The Council chairman explained that the Council members visited the site of the projects during the construction work, and expressed satisfaction that some faults identified at that time were duly corrected.
Also speaking, the Provost, Dr Tessy Okoli, thanked the members of the governing council for their commitment that led to the speedy completion of the projects. She described TETFund interventions as a lifeline to tertiary institutions. According to her, aside accessing interventions in physical structures, numerous staff of the college have also benefitted from TETFund academic staff training and development. She said the College would continue to maintain a cordial relationship with the agency by ensuring transparent execution of all TETFund projects.
A representative of the affiliate institution, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in the college Council, Prof Godson Okafor, noted that the completion of the projects would ease off the accommodation needs of the institution.
Speaking on behalf of the contractors, the CEO, Clustergate Nigeria Ltd, Dr Chika Ekwueme, described the handing over of the completed projects as a milestone in the history of the College. He expressed delight with the cordial relationship between the College and the contractors, which ensured the timely completion of the projects.
Ekwueme noted that the projects were supervised at various stages of the construction work, and necessary observations made were quickly corrected. He solicited for more working relationship with the college, noting that ‘the reward for good work is more work’.