From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has commenced the disbursement of about N7.5billion to private and public universities in Nigeria and other research institutions.
The funds is to enable the institutions engage in cutting-edge research that would herald solutions to socioeconomic, political, security and other issues in Nigeria.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, made the revelation while declaring open a four-day meeting on the agency’s Research and Development Standing Committee (RDSC). He said the disbursement comes two years after the Board of Trustees of the agency granted approval for private institutions to draw from the funds.
Bogoro said since the inauguration of the TETFund RDSC on September 24, 2020, the committee had gone far in implementing President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to support government initiatives of responding to the threat of COVID-19 through ground-breaking research on phytomedical drugs, prophylactics and vaccines.
The TETFund boss added that some of the results of the fund’s intervention would be announced soon. He said recently, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, (NASENI) and Innoson Motors, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the utilisation of locally produced goods.
“Similarly, TETFund has also commenced funding of defence and security research committee so they could respond to the unfortunate insecurity challenges and insurgency in the country, thus making Nigeria self-sufficient in locally produced technology for our armed forces and other security Agencies. Our vision is working; governors and industries are buying it, we are involving the youths, we are hoping that soon, a National Research and Development Summit would be held,” he said.