The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised alarms over the potential phasing out of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) under the proposed Nigeria Tax Bill 2024. ASUU has called on the National Assembly to safeguard TETFund, emphasizing its critical role in maintaining accessible and affordable higher education for Nigerian students.
Labeling the proposal to prioritize an untested loan scheme over TETFund as “illogical, shortsighted, and anti-people,” ASUU expressed concerns about its impact on middle-class and low-income families.
Speaking on Thursday in Makurdi, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU-Nsukka Zone, Raphael Amokaha, urged the government to fulfill its constitutional obligation to adequately fund tertiary education, rather than relying solely on intervention programs like TETFund.
Amokaha detailed provisions in the proposed tax bill, highlighting that only 50% of the education tax would be allocated to TETFund in 2025 and 2026, with reductions to 66.7% in the following years and complete cessation by 2030. Instead, these funds would be redirected to the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), a yet-to-be-established agency focused on student loans.
“This plan would essentially cripple TETFund, which has been a cornerstone of university development in Nigeria,” Amokaha warned. “The proposal to allocate portions of the Education Tax to other agencies not recognized under the TETFund Act 2011 is illegal and detrimental to the education sector.”
ASUU criticized the move, arguing that the student loan scheme would benefit less than half of Nigerian students while leaving public universities underfunded and struggling to address infrastructure needs.
The union expressed horror over the implications of the tax bill, noting that the education tax has been instrumental in funding TETFund, a creation borne out of ASUU’s advocacy to rejuvenate Nigeria’s higher education system.
“TETFund’s contributions to our public universities cannot be overstated. Over 80% of campus infrastructure today bears TETFund’s mark. Without this intervention, many students would lack access to education due to inadequate facilities,” Amokaha stated.
He also underscored the transformative role of TETFund in providing street lighting, laboratory equipment, school clinics, and building renovations across 244 public tertiary institutions, including 96 universities, 72 polytechnics, and 76 colleges of education.
“TETFund has yet to reach its full potential, but its impact is undeniable. Redirecting funds to an untested loan scheme risks undermining years of progress in the education sector,” Amokaha cautioned.
ASUU called on the government to reconsider the proposal, emphasizing that sustainable education funding should take precedence over experimental loan programs that may not address the broader needs of Nigerian students and institutions.
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