Over 1.3 billion Naira building projects of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TetFund were on Thursday inaugurated in Ebonyi State University, EBSU Abakaliki.
The Executive Secretary of the TetFund, Arc Sonny Echono, who made this known at the event, described the three projects commissioned in the state university as the annual interventions of years 2016-2019 (merged), 2021-2022 (merged) and 2020, with a total cost of N1,339,791,726.06.
Echono, represented by Babatunde Olajide, in charge of the TetFund Monitoring and Evaluation in Nigeria, said the projects were delivered successfully in line with the TetFund guidelines.
He recalled that the TETFund’s interventions at the University have seen remarkable and plausible strides in the utilization of its allocations for infrastructure-based projects in the institution.
He disclosed that from the commencement of the TetFund interventions to the university in 1999, the institution has received allocations up to a total of N12,313,420,341.34 for infrastructure-related interventions cutting across the annual, special, special high impact, and zonal interventions, amongst others.
He said the statistics revealed that about 85.1% of the funds had been accessed and deployed to address infrastructural deficiencies in the university, expressing confidence that the projects undertaken with the funds had a remarkable impact on teaching, learning, and research.
He commended the management of the university for assiduously monitoring and ensuring the successful delivery of the various intervention projects executed from inception while hailing the Governor of Ebonyi State, Chief Francis Nwifuru, the University Governing Council, members of staff and the various project teams for the support given in ensuring that the projects were successfully delivered.
He further expressed optimism that the projects would strengthen the efforts of the university to become a global player in the tertiary education subsector and significantly contribute to research and development.
The Chairman of the House Committee on TetFund, Princess Miriam Onuoha, who inaugurated the projects, commended President Bola Tinubu for making funds available to the TetFund to ensure the successful completion of the edifices in the school.
Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State, represented by his Deputy at the occasion, Princess Patricia Obila, commended the TetFund for its various interventions in the tertiary institutions, noting that the assistance has become instrumental to the infrastructural and educational advancement of the university.
He further commended President Tinubu for his Renewed Hope initiative, which, in his words, has facilitated transformative projects in the university and other sectors in the state.
The Vice Chancellor of Ebonyi State University, Professor Chigozie Ogbu, while commending Governor Nwifuru's commitment to transform the institution, further described TetFund as the life-wire of tertiary education in Nigeria, having promoted a conducive teaching and learning environment for students.
Ogbu, however, requested TetFund to grant special allocation to complete the Advanced Reference Research Laboratory and Zonal allocation to the landscape of the Faculty of Management block in the university.
Victor Nwegede
