The executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, has warned that billions of naira invested in digital infrastructure in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions risk being wasted if universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education fail to adopt and utilise technology.
Speaking in Abuja at the opening of a two-day workshop on Blackboard/Tertiary Education, Research, Applications and Services (TERAS) Adoption and Usage, Echono stressed that despite huge investments, many institutions were yet to embrace digital platforms.
“We are no longer confined to four walls of classrooms. With just an Android device, students should be able to access content, participate in learning, and acquire skills. There is no alternative to technology if we must prepare our youths for opportunities ahead,” he said.
Echono recalled that during the COVID-19 lockdown, TETFund worked with state governments, NTA, and radio stations to deliver lessons, a move which contributed to one of Nigeria’s best West African Examinations Council (WAEC) results.
He lamented Nigeria’s global education competitiveness ranking 189th worldwide and 25th in Africa, trailing smaller nations such as Rwanda and Mauritius that embraced ICT. He insisted that over half of TETFund’s future budgets would be redirected toward digital projects rather than physical infrastructure.
Despite such plans, Echono expressed frustration that some institutions still submitted requests in hardcopy, slowing down digital reforms.
TETFund received N1.6 trillion for 2025 interventions, its largest allocation ever, with N460 billion earmarked for direct support to tertiary institutions, N225 billion for student loans, N70 billion for campus energy projects, and N25 billion for security upgrades. Universities will each receive N2.8 billion, polytechnics N1.9 billion, and colleges of education N2.1 billion.
“The government has done its part by providing infrastructure. But when equipment and platforms are not used, that is the definition of waste,” Echono warned.
