Academic Lauds ‘Unprecedented’ TETFund Milestones Under Tinubu
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is charting a historic course in Nigeria’s higher education landscape, propelled by the sustained commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, according to a prominent university professor.
Professor Dapo Thomas of the Department of History and International Studies at Lagos State University (LASU) made this assertion while delivering a paper at the 2025 TETFund Board of Trustees Southwest Town-Hall Meeting, held recently at the University of Ibadan.
The event was facilitated by Honourable Sunday Adepoju, the Southwest representative on the TETFund Board.
In his presentation titled “The Achievements of TETFund under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration,” Prof. Thomas stressed that TETFund’s recent achievements reflect the Federal Government’s “transformative and interventionist” strategy aimed at revitalizing tertiary education.
He pointed to continuous financial backing, robust research funding, and massive infrastructure upgrades as key indicators of this resolve.
The LASU academic firmly defended the agency’s performance, stating it would be “mischievous to de-market TETFund” when its exceptional work is evident across the country.
He noted that the Fund’s positive impact hasn’t gone unrecognized, even internationally. TETFund was reportedly named the “Most Improved Government Agency of the Year 2024” in February 2025, a testament to its focus on research, innovation, and institutional backing.
A crucial development highlighted was the ₦940.5 billion allocation to TETFund in the 2025 national budget by the Tinubu administration. Prof. Thomas called this a clear signal of the President’s dedication to elevating the nation’s tertiary institutions to global benchmarks.
Shedding light on specific interventions, the scholar disclosed that TETFund has successfully completed 687 capital projects in tertiary institutions nationwide in under two years.
These vital projects span lecture halls, student hostels, administrative buildings (like Senate structures), and medical facilities, all crucial for enhancing learning and research environments.
Furthermore, President Tinubu authorized ₦4.25 billion to fund 158 research proposals under the National Research Fund (NRF) cycle, which TETFund manages.
This funding is strategically channeled toward applied research in critical national sectors such as power, healthcare, agriculture, security, and job creation.
In conclusion, Prof. Thomas positioned TETFund as a critical “change agent” effectively reversing the long-standing decay and stagnation within Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
He attributed this success to the vision and backing of President Tinubu, asserting that “TETFund is fixing the decay in all ramifications through a government intolerant of stagnation and decadence.”
