One public institution that has been silently taking giant strides in the
\npast one year is the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and it is
\nmore than mere coincidence that the spike in the positive impacts of the
\nfund came with the tenure of its incumbent Executive Secretary, the Prof.
\nSuleiman Saidu Bogoro<\/p>\n
Like its precursor, the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) as ably led by the
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari in those days, which made tremendous
\ncontributions to education, TETFUND under Professor Bogoro has
\ndemonstrated what is possible given the right political will. The past one
\nyear has seen the
\nfund made progress that an organisation can only make under a leadership that
\nis amenable to change. The high point here is that the Professor had already
\nwhipped up a micro version of the larger change that is today sweeping across
\nthe country with the installation of a new government.<\/p>\n
In a not too distant past, the various special funds for education \u2013 or
\nfor other sectors, were at best dismal in the perception Nigerians have of
\nthem. A lot of these funds operate the most opaque regimes for bodies that
\nwere specifically set up to addressed identified shortcomings in the
\neducation sector. There were some that were so twisted that even the
\nNational Assembly invoking its investigative powers was never able to
\nunravel the complex and knotty corruption that have taken roots in such
\nplaces.<\/p>\n
This has, fortunately, not been the case with re\u2014born TETFUND, which has
\ngiven hope to Nigerians that great things happen when the right leadership
\nis in place.<\/p>\n
This apparently explains why several groups have hailed the leadership of
\nProfessor Bogoro as well as testifying to the impact of TETFUND under his
\nwatch. Anecdotic testimonials by such groups indicate that there have been
\nvisible improvements in Nigeria\u2019s tertiary schools as evident in the
\nrenovation, upgrade and construction of critical infrastructure. Others
\nhave identified overall improvement of the environment in which students
\nstudy. Interestingly, several media reports have validated the assessments
\nmade by these organisations and given that media organizations are
\nthorough in arriving at their reports then one can safely accept that
\ngreat things have really happened at the fund.<\/p>\n
The growth and improvement in infrastructure is only rivalled by the
\ncapacity building for staff of tertiary institutions in the country. The
\nimplication of this is that those entrusted with educating our youths are
\nthemselves now being empowered. This move is one in the right direction
\nbecause it would have been pointless building, renovating and furnishing
\nstructures while those who churn out the products remain mentally stuck in
\nthe 90s. It is thus remarkable that this aspect was not overlooked by
\nTETFund.<\/p>\n
Within the fund, a Research and Development Centre has been established
\nwithin the short time that Bogoro has been in charge. This speaks volume
\nof a man who is committed and dedicated to excellence. It is a
\nre-assertion of the primacy of research in the contemporary world.<\/p>\n
Such attention to details extends even to other decisions that Professor
\nBogoro has taken as the helmsman of the fund. He seamlessly keyed into the
\nchange agenda of the incumbent government and the fund is kind of already
\nmoving in the direction that is desirable to Nigerians and in tune with
\nthe policy drive of government. The kind of changes taking place at
\nNigerians tertiary schools courtesy of TETFund is the kind that will once
\nagain make our institutions attractive to prospective students who will
\nlikely no longer have to spend billions of naira paid as school fees that
\nin turn power the economies of other countries to the detriment of
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n
Whatever Professor Bogoro did to turn TETFund around should be studied and
\nproperly articulated with a view to making related agencies and
\norganisations see what they can adapt for implementation in their own
\nsphere.<\/p>\n
The Professor must however realise that the kind of ovations following his
\nachievements will only lead the people to demand more action. He must thus
\ncontinually dip into his bag of ideas to come up with further innovations
\nthat can make Nigeria into an education destination, not just for the
\nAfrican continent but for the whole world.<\/p>\n
He must also watch out for those who could attempt to drag him into
\nneedless confrontations aimed at distracting the change taking place at
\nTETFund. This has happened to trailblazers in the past and it is something
\nthe country cannot afford to happen at this critical juncture when the
\npreponderance of desire is to see the key institutions of the land reboot
\ninto functional modes for development.<\/p>\n
So, like Oliver Twist, one must ask for more. Professor Bogoro must
\nsustain the tempo he has started with at TETFund, but this is a given. The
\nactual demand one must make of this erudite scholar is that he must take
\nTETFund to places. He should demonstrate to Nigerians that institutions
\ncan excel. And for this we will be grateful to him.<\/p>\n
Agbese is an anti corruption crusader and Public affairs commentator
\nbased in Abuja.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One public institution that has been silently taking giant strides in the past one year is the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and it is more than mere coincidence that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n