Power challenge: TETFUND to fund Alternative Energy Solutions in tertiary institutions

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is introducing a special intervention to fund alternative energy to address incessant power challenge in tertiary institutions. Chairman, Board of Trustees of TETFund, Aminu Masari, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja. Alhaji Masari made the disclosure while inaugurating the steering committee for Alternative Energy Solution Initiative in tertiary Institutions Masari said the initiative was part of the fund’s commitment to support government’s efforts at ensuring steady power supply in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. He stressed the importance of power supply as critical to learning and research, which was lacking in most tertiary institutions. “We all know the combination of factors to include the increase in tariff which has become unbearable for these institutions, coupled with other issues,” he said. The provision of reliable power supply is expected to improve the quality of education and research in tertiary institutions, Masari said. The Federal Government also plans to provide steady power to tertiary institutions through the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). The REA aims to provide captive solar hybrid power plants to 15 federal tertiary institutions and two teaching hospitals . This initiative is part of the government’s efforts to address power challenge by increasing electricity access to underserved Nigerians. While the exact timeline for the completion of this project is not specified, REA has made significant progress in increasing electricity access to underserved communities. The agency has more than 67 mini-grids and 995,396 solar home systems deployed. The steering committee, has been given two months to summit its preliminary report, and shall be part of the implementation team.

Tetfund Has Invested Over N4.5bn In Gombe Varsity- Echono

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has executed 11 projects at the Gombe State University worth N4.5 billion. The Executive Secretary of Tetfund, Mr Sonny Echono, said this at the inauguration ceremony of the projects at the university main campus at the weekend in Gombe. Echono said that since the university’s enlistment as a beneficiary of the Fund in 2006 to 2023, TETFund has allocated more than N15 billion for infrastructure-related interventions, cutting across the Annual, Special and Zonal interventions, among others. He expressed satisfaction that the projects undertaken with the fund had impacted on the mandate of the university in facilitating teaching, learning and research. Echono also commended the university management in partnering with the Federal Government in its efforts at making public tertiary institutions centres of excellence, research and discovery, as well as a drive towards making the institutions globally competitive. He noted that completing projects amidst the prevailing economic situation was not easy. However, he said despite the challenges, the projects were delivered, urging the university to ensure that the facilities were well maintained to avoid dilapidation. The TetFund executive scribe assured that the Fund would continue to support the institution’s drive for creativity through meaningful research endeavours. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Aliyu Elnafaty, said since its establishment the institution has benefited from the Fund’s various intervention projects, including lecture halls, laboratories, libraries and ICT facilities. On manpower development, he said the Fund has sponsored about 500 academic staff for postgraduate studies from Masters up to PhD levels at various universities within and outside the country. On his part, the visitor to the university, who is the state Governor, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, announced that the Dukku campus of the institution would soon take off with the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Yahaya noted that 80 per cent of the structures in the university were executed by TetFund, noting that its Senate building would soon be constructed under the Special Intervention fund. TetFund also inaugurated four projects at the Federal College of Education Technical, Gombe, also executed under various interventions.