Executive Secretary, TETFUND, Abdullahi Baffa• ‘We only hear of it in newspapers’
Nigeria polytechnics are barely afloat despite N62.3bilion lifeline from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in the last five years.The money, handed out in the period, had been earmarked for research, academic staff training, physical infrastructure and conference attendance. What obtain however are complaints of underfunding, lack of teaching aids, obsolete laboratories and poor infrastructure.
Document obtained by The Guardian on the disbursement shows that 57 federal and state-owned polytechnics benefitted from the intervention.As at July, 19 polytechnics received N847.4m for academic staff training, with Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa, taking the largest share of N111m, while Federal Polytechnic Ede received N97.6m. Hassan Usman Polytechnic, Katsina, had 91.2m; Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi, N80.4m; Federal Polytechnic Kaura Namoda, Zamfara, N75.7m; and Niger State Polytechnic, Zungeru, N61.2m.
N62.3b TETFund intervention riddled by complaints
