The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has said it does not discriminate in providing intervention funds to eligible tertiary institutions and individuals under its purview.
The Chairman of Board of Trustees of the fund, Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, made this disclosure on Tuesday at the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.
He was in the university with some other members of the board and management staff for interaction and on the- spot-assessment of TETFund’s projects and their impacts.
According to him, TETFund provides intervention funds to beneficiary institutions and faculty members based on societal needs, merits and ability to deliver for genuine societal development.
“So, we’re not discriminating in any form as to whether a school is owned by the federal or by the state government or whether it is a college of education or polytechnic or university, as our priority is to provide supports where and on what is necessary for the development of public tertiary institutions and these are based strictly on merits,” he stressed.
He explained that, though the agency provides infrastructures to make learning and teaching effective in various schools, it also had strong priority for research activities, agricultural studies, Information and Communication Technology, (ICT) as well as entrepreneurial skills.
He said all these were key areas for TETFund intervention knowing full- well that they are right paths for various institutions to produce graduates, who would be problems-solvers rather than problems-creators and also do well in research and community services.
Ibrahim-Imam, whose team was in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka on Monday and would be visiting Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) on Wednesday, however, commended LASU particularly for the steady progress made in the recent years and also for ranking as the second-best university in Nigeria by the Education Times International.
He said he was happy about the various testimonies heard about the university and also for effective utilisation of TETFund money.
He added with the interactions and physical assessment of various projects funded by TETFund from 2011 to date which was the essence of the visit, the agency would continue to support the university in all the ways possible.
In his welcome address, the Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Professor Olanrewaju Fagbohun, said the university is able to sustain steady peace and progress in the last five years and also got all its 70 programmes duly accredited by relevant agencies because it runs an all-inclusive government.
He lauded TETFund for its support to tertiary schools and importantly to LASU, saying the impacts are feasible for all to see.
He, however, asked for more supports so as to achieve more successes in its tripartite mandates of teaching, research and community services.