Japa: 18 Nigerian Varsities To Get N110bn In First Phase Of N1.5trn Funding

The federal government has announced a massive investment of N1.5trn in medical education over the next five years.

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during the inauguration of a committee on the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for medical school rehabilitation across the six geopolitical zones on Tuesday.

The project aims to rehabilitate and modernise medical infrastructure, increase enrolment in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing programmes, and produce a new generation of highly trained health professionals.

Alausa emphasised the need for a blended learning approach, citing the importance of online learning in today’s world.

He also highlighted the need to increase access to tertiary education, particularly in medical fields, to drive national development.

“Today marks another significant milestone in our collective efforts to reposition medical education in Nigeria. Advance the broader goals of the renewal of President Tinubu. As part of our strategic interventions under the Nigeria Educational Sector Renewal Initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education, working closely with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, has designed the TETFund Intervention Project for medical schools across the geopolitical zones.

“This project is a deliberate response to the urgent need to expand our medical training capacity by rehabilitating and modernising key infrastructures, lecture theatres, laboratories, hostels, and clinical learning environments to significantly increase enrolment in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing programmes across these selected 18 universities. In this first step, we’re focusing on these four areas of learning, areas of degree. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing.

“By doing so, we’re not just expanding assets; we’re laying a strong foundation for producing a new generation of highly trained health professionals who will serve Nigeria today and lead the world tomorrow,” he said.

The minister commended the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council for increasing nursing enrollment from 28,000 to 115,000 annually.

The TETFund intervention project will focus on 18 universities across six geopolitical zones, with a ₦110 billion investment in the first phase, including ₦70 billion for infrastructure rehabilitation, ₦15 billion for hostel construction, and funding for medical simulation environments.

The beneficiary universities for the TETFund High Impact Intervention Project for Medical Schools Rehabilitation are Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; Bayelsa State University; University of Lagos; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; University of Benin; and Imo State University, Owerri.

Others are the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo; University of Ibadan; Benue State University, Makurdi; Umar Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina; University of Nigeria, Nsukka; and University of Calabar.

The list also includes Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; University of Jos; University of Ilorin; University of Maiduguri; Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto; and Gombe State University.

The monitoring committee, chaired by the Association of Provosts of Colleges of Medicine in Nigeria (APCOM), Prof. Sulyman Alabi, will ensure transparent and timely delivery of the project, adhering to principles of accountability and public procurement laws.

“The committee we are inaugurating today is tasked with a critical national assignment. You are to ensure transparent, timely and quality delivery of these interventions across 18 designated institutions in the country.

“Your terms of reference, as you have seen, include collaborating with each institution on their needs assessment and determining which projects are to be executed so that we can maintain proper project monitoring, eventually leading to transparent project implementation and recommending appropriate sanctions where necessary.

“We expect your work to be guided by the highest standard of accountability, transparency and professionalism. This is just not about building structures; it’s about building trust, building confidence and building a future,” he said.

In his welcome address, TETFund Executive Secretary Arc. Sonny Echono expressed gratitude to the Minister of Education and his team for their commitment to strengthening medical education in Nigeria.

“We are deeply grateful to Mr President and the Hon. Minister of Education for their vision and commitment to the Fund’s intervention activities and particularly the strengthening and repositioning of institutions in the nation’s health sector through TETFund intervention in our medical schools,” Echono said.

Echono noted that the intervention will address critical national needs in the health sector, improving infrastructure in medical schools and enhancing capacity to produce more doctors, nurses, dentists, and pharmacists.

“The provision of critical manpower in the health sector remains a huge challenge. The problems of insufficient and unqualified medical personnel have lingered for far too long. The challenges of ill-equipped medical facilities have also persisted,” he added.

Echono expressed confidence that the committee members will deliver on their responsibilities, solving some of the challenges facing the health sector.

Japa: 18 Nigerian Varsities To Get N110bn In First Phase Of N1.5trn Funding is first published on The Whistler Newspaper