The lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Honourable Oluwole Oke, has expressed displeasure over the non-inclusion of Nigeria’s private universities in the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), saying there should be no dichotomy between government and private universities in Nigeria.
Oke who stated this after the conferment of Honorary Degree on him by the Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) Ikeji Arakeji, called for the integration of private universities into the system, noting that both the public and private universities produce graduates for the Nigeria labour force and there should be no dichotomy.
According to the chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, as part of efforts to provide education, private universities are established by churches; philanthropists, communities and individuals who realised that government alone cannot fund education and they bequeathed their wealth to trustees to fund them.
He however said government should appreciate these efforts by supporting the private universities and their founders through the provision of grants such as the TETFUND.
He said private universities should be accommodated in the TETFUND Act, 2011, which was saddled with the responsibility of imposing, managing and disbursing the Education Tax to public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
He said: “I want to plead with my colleagues from the National Assembly that we need to thinker with TETFUND Act so that private universities like JABU can benefit from TETFUND.
“Afterall, the fund for TETFUND is two per cent education taxes that we charge on companies, so I see no reason why private institutions like JABU cannot benefit from such.”
Oke who promised to build a 1,000 capacity hall for JABU also disclosed that he had earmarked N50 million to enroll about 2,000 youths from his constituency and equip them with entrepreneurial skills in order to empower them economically after learning the skills.
The lawmaker said JABU had been able to set the pace in the field of entrepreneurial programme, saying he would always be ready to partner with the univerity in the area of capacity-building programme and entrepreneurship.
The vice chancellor of the university, Profesor Kola Sonaike said several students have been trained in various entrepreneurial skills like building-related skills, such as block-making, bricklaying, tiling, plumbing, interlocking and landscaping.
He said the institution is committed to equipping students with entrepreneurial skills to empower them economically after academic learning in the institution.
According to him, the aim is to produce students who will be self-employed and ultimately become employers of labour.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buhari Urges MTN For Quality Service, Downward Price Review In Cost Of Data, Other Services
President Muhammadu Buhari Friday at State House Abuja urged the MTN Group to make the available top-of-the-range service to its Nigerian subscribers… TETFUND: Lawmaker advocates inclusion of private varsities ; TETFUND: Lawmaker advocates inclusion of private varsities ; TETFUND: Lawmaker advocates inclusion of private varsities ; TETFUND: Lawmaker advocates inclusion of private varsities.
and then