From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commissioned Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) sponsored annual intervention projects at the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), the Airforce Institute of Technology (AFIT), Kaduna Polytechnic and Kaduna State University (KASU).
President Buhari who was represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Aliyu Wamako, noted that projects at NDA gulped over N685 million, AFIT over N604 million, KASU over N491 million, and Kaduna Polytechnic over N450 million for the 2020/2021 annual intervention.
The projects which were executed during the period under review and commissioned at NDA included a Computer Based Test hall (CBT Hall), Faculty of Management and Military Science buildings.
While at AFIT, the Department of Cyber Security, Students Hostel of the 2020 Zonal Intervention and Students Hostel of the 2021 Zonal Intervention were commissioned.
In his remarks shortly after the commissioning, Wamakko said, “Education, as we all know, plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of nations and, therefore, the commissioning of these projects today would in no small measure further enhance teaching and learning and improvement of academic standards.
“I wish to reiterate that education forms an integral part of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s agenda, hence the Federal Government would continue to provide necessary support towards making our educational institutions globally competitive for the economic and technological development of the country.
“It is on record that through the support of the Federal Government, TETFund has performed exceptionally in the provision of physical infrastructure, support for academic staff training and development, book publication, ICT, Resesrch and Development, amongst others, in public tertiary educational institutions across the country.
“I am delighted to note that the Airforce Institute of Technology, Kaduna and other public tertiary educational institutions in Kaduna State have not been exempted from these intervention efforts of TETFund”.
Earlier, the Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Maj-Gen Ibrahim Yusuf, said the institution had received over N8.2 billion in support from the TETFUND in the last seven years.
Yusuf explained that about N6 billion of the money went into infrastructural development while N2.2 billion was spent on training, research and publication, library and ICT, among others.
The Commandant added that the Federal Government had also invested hugely in the manpower development of cadets, “which by implication goes to the development of the entire Armed Forces of Nigeria”.
He disclosed that the NDA currently has nine ongoing TETFUND projects from the merged funds for 2019 to 2022 interventions.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the event marked the start of a major TETFund activity in 2023.
Echono, represented by Olatunde Olajide, said that in 2023, 162 iconic TETFund projects would be inaugurated in 54 tertiary institutions spread across 28 states.
He said that the financing of the projects by TETFund was a clear demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to the provision of requisite physical infrastructure in the nation’s public tertiary institutions.
“It is our commitment at TETFund to ensure that value is obtained for funds allocated to the benefitting institutions to aid teaching, learning and research and by implication, make them globally competitive,” he said.
The Executive Secretary commended the management of the NDA for successfully completing the three projects among other notable ones being executed in the Academy with TETFund support.
He expressed confidence that the intervention would significantly impact the training of cadets, through teaching, and research.
