By Adams Abonu

With widespread economic apprehension pervading her polity, the need to prudently manage Nigeria’s common patrimony becomes the more pertinent. A bogus public sector and its attendant consequences demands that resources allocation should be done in a manner that returns value to the national economy.

Since coming on board, President Bola Tinubu has not only shown a somewhat commitment towards enhancing national revival through novel policy redirection, the administration also appears poised to leave indelible footprints in the bid to place Nigeria ahead within the comity of nations.

Among numerous interventions by the Tinubu administration recently in the national scheme of things, the initiative to put tertiary instruction as a solution provider for myriad national challenges indicates that there is a renewed hope in the development trajectory of Africa’s largest economy. At a time when tertiary education is the preoccupation of most development pundits in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world, it is expected that the impact indicator of TETFUND), the government agency with the core responsibility of harnessing infrastructural advancement in public (and private) higher institutions of learning, be accorded adequate attention.

This reporter took it upon himself to level-up with development effort at the Fund through the course of recent months, prompting this article, which aims at highlighting the  intervention strategies and the innovations brought on board by the incumbent dispensation at TETFUND and the need for President Tinubu to sustain this verve in the interest of national development.

Since he assumed the responsibility of steering affairs of TETFUND as Executive Secretary, Arc. Sonny Echono has brought commensurate confidence and a sound sense of accountability in funds disbursement. With his robust background in public procurement, the erstwhile civil servant who rose to the pinnacle of service has revived the confidence of Nigerians in the funding agency with his innovations and up-to-date strategies.

The new helmsman brought to the job a robust wealth of experience in infrastructural development, public procurement management and a drive towards information technology and innovation, having identified these as crucial ingredients in meeting the challenges of global competitiveness.

For want of emphasis on the immediate preoccupation of the incumbent management of TETFUND, certain instances could suffice. Take a recent partnership with the Research For Innovation (R4i), an innovation incubation hub, that saw the training and harnessing of innovative potentials from Polytechnics across the federation in a bootcamp for an instance.

The training was directed at developing home-grown solutions to different technological challenges cutting across health, education, utility and other strategic sectors. Participants at the innovation camp which included lecturers, could not hide their excitement in being part of a process that could engender productivity.

Then consider the sound idea of National Research Fund initiated by the Fund to harness research and innovation prospects from scholars. This idea has seen the disbursement of over 23 billion naira to sponsor more than 900 development researches across various tertiary institutions of learning and further enhancing Nigeria’s development aspirations.

These research proposals were vetted by TETFUND’s National Research Funds Screening and Monitoring Committee which recommended the funding of researches with good potentials. The refocus on research and innovation by the incumbent leadership of TETFUND is not only timely but also a reorientation that should stand the tests of modern times.

Some of the approved research works under the Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation thematic group include Application of Hydro-Biochemical Framework to Develop a National Rural Water Quality Assurance Plan for Sustainable Water Quality Management in Nigeria, Development of Intelligent Multichamber Evaporative Cooling Preservative System for Post-Harvest Storage of Selected Fruits in Nigeria, Development of Electric Vehicles with Tracking System Features, among other resounding research ideas.

Approval was also given for the Utilization of Scrap Tyres and Plastic Wastes as Aggregate Conductive materials for Renewable Energy Storage System, Digital Financing Inclusions under Cross-Cutting thematic group. A cursory observation with the approved research endeavours would indicate a common objective of meeting development challenges.

The Fund has revealed that this innovations that meet everyday challenges will be exhibited at Eagle Square in November. This affords the nation a chance to measure investments in the educational sector through the Education Tax Fund as this would bring researchers, inventors and creators to share their cutting-edge projects and productive ideas and innovations.

Another recent giant stride in TETFUND’s bid to improve tertiary instruction in Nigeria is the equal drive being accorded physical infrastructure. It is now a common sight in public institutions to see that a proportionate portion of new building carry the Fund’s support logo. When ES Echono revealed sometime ago when he played host to the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) that hostels are to be built across campuses for students’ to address accommodation shortfalls, it was a testament to consolidate on the gains already achieved in this direction. With the Executive Secretary inculcating the students, who are the major beneficiaries of these projects in monitoring their implementations, TETFUND has demonstrated exemplary pragmatism.

“This year, we shall provide hostels for students in 36 tertiary institutions. We realise that the places where our students live are so deplorable. We also realise that only about 15 percent of our students are staying on campus while the rest stay outside the campuses, climbing Okada many times during the rains.

“These hostels will not be matchboxes and shanties but will be solid buildings that can attract students from anywhere in the world,’’ Echono stated while also hinting that work was in progress to provide free internet for students in public and private tertiary institutions to enhance qualitative learning.

When governors from different states and across different political parties take their turns and come in their numbers to a particular agency of government, it could mean they found a treasure of value in such place. These courtesy visits by various state’s governors to the leadership of TETFUND to seek further supports for States-owned tertiary institutions also reveals the widespread acceptability of the development initiatives being implemented.

As at the last count, no fewer than 20 state governors have taken their turns to come to TETFUND with each showering encomiums on the development strides of the funding agency and the sagacity of the Executive Secretary. In one of such visits, Bauchi state’s Bala Mohammed didn’t just ask for the Fund’s intervention in tertiary institutions owned by the state but also hailed the managerial acumen of Architect Echono, whom the governor described as a bright spot of the Tinubu administration.

On entrenching accountability and prudence in resources management, TETFUND under Echono has continued to set benchmarks of integrity. The innovating in project supervising and management need sustaining and deserves accolades.

In a remark in Lagos recently during a retreat for the newly constituted Bello Masari-led Board of Trustees of the Fund, Echono had charged heads of beneficiary institutions to ensure prompt and quality implementation of projects to enhance qualitative educational environment.

While stressing that the demands are crucial for enhancing institutions that can complete on a global scale, the ES also indicated that efficient supervision remained the fulcrum of this expectations.

Strategies like signing Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), the Blackboard Scheme, Supervisory Frameworks speaks to the preparedness of the Fund to engender prudent management of scarce resources. This should rightly occupy the interest of any well-meaning pundit.

Numerous recognition of TETFUND’s impact continued to accumulate from civil societies, students, teachers’ and recently the reputable African Leadership Magazine which honoured Echono at the House of Lords in London for his “dynamic innovations.”

With President Tinubu’s directives that 30 percent of TETFUND’S budgeting be dedicated to the Students Loans Program, the times couldn’t be more auspicious to institutionalize prudence. It’s a good thing that Architect Echono and his team is championing this noble course.

Thus far, it has been an era of innovation and distinctions and a paradigm of prudence at TETFUND under the pragmatic leadership of Architect Echono, who students described to this reporter as ‘’Our Architect of Good Hope.’’ While accolades continue to pour in, much remains to be done in improving the quality of tertiary education across Nigeria.

Abonu, a Public Affairs Consultant and Development Journalist, writes from Asokoro, Abuja.