The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alleged that the Federal Government is planning to kill off the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and replace it with the “poorly thought through” Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) through the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU-Nsukka Zone, Raphael Amokaha, who stated this while briefing the press alongside members of the Zonal leadership on Thursday in Makurdi, disclosed that the plans would either kill public universities or reduce them to glorified secondary schools.
“The bill proposes that education tax ceases by 2030, five years from now. This education tax that the government has proposed to end by 2030 is the source of funds for TETFUND. Section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill (NTB) 2024, as proposed, specifically states that only 50 per cent of the Development Levy would be made available to TETFund in 2025 and 2026 while the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, NASENI, and NELFUND would share the remaining percentages. TETFund will also receive ‘66.7 per cent in 2027, 2028, and 2029 years of assessment’ but ‘0 per cent in the 2030 year of assessment and thereafter.”
“This simply means that by 2030, all the proceeds from the Development Levy will be channelled into NELFUND, an agency that has not firmly taken root yet if it ever will, while TETFUND will be strangled to death. It must be stated here very clearly that taking any percentage out of the Education Tax (Development Levy) to service another agency not known to the TETFund Act 2011 is illegal,” he said.
He noted that NELFUND is charged with the responsibility of given students’ loans while TETFUND has the mandate to develop infrastructure and build capacity adding that the preference for NELFUND over TELFund was “ illogical, myopic, and anti-people, especially the middle class and the lower strata of society.”
The union urged members of the National Assembly and well meaning Nigerians to reject the Bill.
Amokaha stated that TETFund was birthed after concerted struggle by past leaders of the union, adding that “beyond being a baby of the union, we are more concerned about the achievements of TETFUND especially as we believe the agency has not even realised its full potential yet.
“A simple, verifiable illustration of the accomplishments of this agency even without recourse to figures is the fact that more than half of undergraduate students in our public universities today will be out of school because they will not have been able to get placement in a university. This was a home grown solution to address issues of funding to rehabilitate decaying infrastructure, restore the lost glory of education and confidence in the system as well as consolidate the gains thereto; and to build the capacity of teachers and lecturers.”
Speaking on the intervention of TETfund to support the growth and development of universities in the country, Amokaha said: “TETFund currently provides intervention to 244 public tertiary institutions in Nigeria of which 96 Universities, 72 Polytechnics and 76 Colleges of Education. A further break-down of these institutions shows 49 Federal Universities, 47 State Universities, 34 Federal Polytechnics, 38 State polytechnics, 28 federal Colleges of Education and 48 State Colleges of Education.
“Federal and state-owned tertiary institutions are currently referred to as ‘TETFund Institutions’ because most projects are funded from this interventionist agency on which a death sentence has been passed through the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.”
He further stated that ASUU has resolved not to stand by and watch the denigration and obliteration of TETfund, an agency that has discharged its mandate decently in the last thirty years.
“As a result, ASUU is urging the National Assembly, especially the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to do all within their capacity to protect TETFund from being abrogated under the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024.
“In the same vein, we urge visitors to state universities, who also have polytechnics and colleges of Education to rise to the defence of their institutions against this new existential threat. Members of House of Representatives and the Senate must remember that they owe their constituents this responsibility of ensuring that their youth can attend higher institutions without the threat of exorbitant, unaffordable fees in either the public or private institutions for that will be the cost of killing TETFUND,” he said.