The Executive Secretary Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Dr. Adullahi Bichi Baffa, during an inauguration ceremony of TETFund projects recently said the Federal Government had approved special funding to support the Regional Centre for Research and production of Knowledge at the University of Maiduguri, to counter extremism.
He made this known while inaugurating the President Muhammadu Buhari Senate Building at the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
In his address, Dr. Baffa stated that Borno State had been the worst hit by Boko Haram attacks, adding that it was in the light of this, that the Federal Government of Nigeria through the TETFund had approved funds to support the Regional Centre to carry out research in extremism and insurgency.
The TETFund scribe revealed that from 1999 to 2018, over 12 billion had been allocated to the University of Maiduguri, out of which the university had accessed over 11billion and used same for various projects, including the ones that were inaugurated.
While describing the university as one of the top notch in terms of beneficiary institutions that accessed TETFund interventions quickly, Dr. Baffa lamented that some institutions were yet to access all their allocations for several years. He added that University of Maiduguri had already accessed up to the 2016 allocation, which he noted was commendable.
The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education and Services, Honourable Aminu Suleiman Goro, in his remark called for the upward review of the accruable Education Tax to TETFund.
He stressed that the review of accruable education tax to TETFund was justified, given what was seen at the university, adding that tertiary institutions in Nigeria would have been mere glorified secondary schools without TETFund interventions.
The Law maker who also inaugurated the Senate Chambers of the university stated that the project sited on the Campus of the University of Maiduguri, through the intervention of TETFund, was a clear picture of what judicious utilisation of public fund should be in Nigeria.
Other projects inaugurated were the Centre for Instructional Technology; Veterinary Teaching Hospital Complex, and 2,200-seat capacity mega lecture halls Complex.