The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to the Federal Government not to systemically phase out the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) which has “transformed” tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria in the last three decades.
ASUU warned that suffocating the funding source of TETFund to run the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) would destroy public education in the country.
“The only source of funding is from TETFund, so when you destroy it, you have destroyed public universities,” ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily breakfast programme on Thursday.
He alleged that some members of the ruling class “want to destroy public universities and ensure that the children of the poor remain slaves”.
The ASUU president faulted the Tax Bills introduced by the President Bola Tinubu administration saying that stakeholders were not consulted within the educational sector before the bills were sent to the National Assembly.
“TETFund is a product of ASUU. You can’t make the tax laws without meeting with ASUU for inputs before proposing it before the National Assembly.
“The Vice Chancellors were not consulted, Pro Chancellors were not consulted. The people sat down somewhere and said over the next five years let’s scrap it without consulting those who initiated this bill that has transformed Nigerian public universities. That’s not how to work in a system. That’s not how to run a country that is democratic,” he said.
Osodeke said rather than systematically phase out TETFund which derives its funding from consolidated revenue from company income tax, the government should bankroll the newly formed NELFUND from Value Added Tax (VAT).
“Let that Act that was initiated in 1993 that has transformed all Nigerian universities, allow it to stay. If you want to drive NELFUND, go and look for ways to fund it. Don’t take from the one that is in existence to fund it.
“Take 1% or 2% of VAT to fund NELFUND. Don’t take from Peter to pay Peter. Go and look for ways to fund NELFUND,” he said.
“When you go around all Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education today, 90% of the physical structures you have there are products of this struggle for TETFUND.
“But this tax bill is saying that by the year 2030, it should be scrapped and merged with NASENI and NITDA and then reduced to 2%,” Osodeke fumed.
Unending Opposition
The new tax bills introduced by the Tinubu administration have been enveloped in widespread controversy and sparked scathing criticisms and stiff opposition from many including the 36 state governors under the aegis of the National Economic Council (NEC). The 19 governors in northern Nigeria have also unequivocally rejected sections of the bills.
Chair of the Presidential Committee on Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, had said the government has no intention to scrap TETFund but to unify the multiple tax system in the country.
However, the ASUU boss said the government official was playing with words.
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“He (Oyedele) is playing with words. TETFund is not gotten from the budget. For TETFund, the money is consolidated in an account that is accessed by CBN; it is money coming from companies – investment by companies in education.
“When you go outside the country, companies fund universities, they give grants, which companies are not doing in Nigeria – the only one they are doing is this 2%. So, they should not look at it as tax but investment to produce graduates that would work for you.
“He is playing with words. Look at the sharing: by 2025-2026, TETFund will access 50% of this consolidated fund. 2026-2027, it will reduce to 33%. In 2030, TETFund will have zero.
“Other countries in Africa are emulating this TETFund. I will give you an example: Ghana. Because of this, in 2021, Ghana passed their GETFUND – Ghana Education Trust Fund. They got theirs from VAT.”
‘Let The Poor Breathe’
Osodeke said NELFUND which was recently introduced to disburse student loans cannot be a replacement for TETFund.
He said, “If you are starting your programme which is NELFUND, there is no problem. Challenge the academia, we will tell you how to fund it. We will give you a way to fund it without tampering with the one on the ground.”
The academic asked the government to “let the poor breathe” and not suffocate them with anti-people policies.
“Our issue with NELFUND is that in a country like Nigeria, it should be grants; and not a loan.
“All the universities are increasing their fees now; jerking up their fees so that the students will borrow more loans from this NELFUND, encumbering the children of the poor.
“In my university, in my department, I now have less than 10 students in the department, many have dropped out. Apart from some of these big courses like Medicine, Law and what have you, students are dropping out. The children of the poor are dropping out,” he said.
The ASUU president said a lot of the union’s members lost their lives in the struggle for TETFund and their sacrifices should be respected.
“Allow TETFund as approved by the military based on the efforts of Nigerian lecturers, for whom many died: Mahmood Tukur died for that struggle. Don’t destroy it because once you destroy it, you have destroyed Nigerian education.
“It is not about ASUU, it is about the future of Nigeria. Nigerian government gives less than 10% to education. In West Africa, the minimum budget allocation is 15%,” he said.
