‘Tax money not for public schools alone’ — VC seeks TETFund grants for private varsities

Kabiru Adeyemo, the vice-chancellor at Lead City University (LCU), has asked the federal government to include private tertiary institutions in Tertiary Education Fund (TETFund) interventions.

The professor, who is also the chairman of the committee of vice-chancellors of private universities in Nigeria, addressed the exclusion of privately owned tertiary schools from TETFund interventions.

Adeyemo was at the celebration of the institution’s 20th anniversary on Monday.

He said students in private universities should be afforded the privileges of TETFund disbursement and government-backed scholarships.

“Lecturers in private universities should also be allowed to enjoy this facility so that at the end of the day, they have a sense of belonging,” the VC added.

“At least TETFund money is taxpayer money and should not only be enjoyed by the federal government institutions alone.”

Adeyemo urged the government to also create an enabling environment for private universities to allow its stakeholders to survive in the sector.

The VC said the student population at Lead City University grew from 4,000 to 20,000, adding that the institution’s programmes have also increased from 40 to about 120.

Adeyemo said private tertiary institutions need motivation to survive and achieve academic excellence and transformation for the overall development of the country.

Established in 2011, TETFund monitors the disbursement of education tax to public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

This education fund was, for over a decade, driven by a two and later three percent deduction from the assessable profit of registered companies in teh country.

The tax is collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and annually remitted to TETFund for infrastructure, research, and training in public tertiary institutions.

Privately owned universities and other private tertiary schools have, however, been locked out of these financial interventions.