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Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has called for the need to increase tertiary institutions tax from 2.5 per cent to three per cent to improve research and development in the country.
The committee disclosed this in Abuja during its oversight visit to TETFund, to ascertain the level of 2021/2022 budget performance.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Ahmed Kaita, said the fund’s 2.5 per cent education tax paid from accessible profit of companies registered obviously had a massive and sustaining impact on improving tertiary education through several interventions.
Kaita expressed hope that the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, would replicate the same vision and mission of transforming education sector he had while serving as the Permanent Secretary of the ministry in TETFund.
He said education and health were two critical sectors that drove development, hence the need for an upward review from 2.5 per cent education tax to three per cent.
He, therefore, hoped that in the third Assembly, the tax would be increased to three per cent.
” Upon the enactment of 2022 Appropriation Act, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria resolved that committees should embark on oversight visit on MDAs under their jurisdiction.
” Consequent upon this, the committee commenced this oversight with the main ministry and today TETFund,” he said.
While expressing satisfaction over the reforms and excellent performance of TETFund for the year under review, Kaita appealed to the Fund to incorporate Mathematical Centre in its interventions.
According to him, no country can thrive in the area of research, science, technology, and innovation without embracing mathematics.
Kaita also urged TETFund to expedite efforts on providing Oxygen generator requested by Kaduna State Polytechnic during COVID- 19 in 2020.
Also, Sen. Chukwuka Utazi, a member of the committee, commended Echono for the robust
interventions carried out so far.
Utazi called on intellectuals to provide a home answer to the COVID-19 response and entrench entrepreneurship in Nigerian universities.
” Nigeria is not an inferior country, if research is fully funded, there will be much results from academia in providing COVID-19 response,” he said.
Earlier, Echono appreciated the committee for its support, saying that the harmony between the National Assembly and education sector was responsible for achievements recorded in the sector in the past seven years.
Echono thanked the National Assembly for considering the passing of Finance Act in 2021, saying it had resulted to increase in education tax percentage to 2.5.
He said that the TETFund had engaged in establishing, revitalising and supporting the benefiting tertiary institutions which classified as Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in the area of infrastructure, training and development of academic staff, promoting research and innovation.
” In 2021, TETFund disbursed N213bn to tertiary institutions which includes the take-off grants for the establishment of new institutions.
” When the Federal Government establishes new institutions, TETFund is requested to disburse take-off grant for the establishment and 60 per cent of this disbursement goes to the universities,” he said.
Echono, while highlighting major reforms in the fund, said TETFund had the highest level of disbursement in the past eight years.
He added that through the 2.5 percent tax received, the fund had trained more than 35,000 academic staff both home and abroad with the plan to expand the number.
He said the Fund had established Centre for Excellence in 24 institutions as a way of making them relevant to society and to solve societal problem.
He added that TETFund was also embarking on completion of all abandoned projects in the Nigerian tertiary institutions by 2023, saying a comprehensive list on the projects and
institutions had been compiled with the view of completing them in phases.
Reacting to the Chairman Senate Committee’s request on providing oxygen generator for Kaduna State Polytechnics, Echono said that the fund had approved N50 million for the research, while half of the money had been paid.
” We approved N50 million for providing oxygen generator and we paid this money in tranches. They collected the first tranche and have not come for the second tranche.
“On the incorporation of Mathematical Centre in the TETFund’s intervention funds, the decision for the interventions to focus sharply on Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education was the main driver of the law.
” I made the appeal myself, the fact that about four of them – Mathematical Centre, Nigerian French School in Badagry, Ugara Arabic Language, and the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, (NINLAN), are classified as Inter-University Centres.
” I felt after reading their Act, to include but some union are objecting to expand scope of intervention. That has been the challenge, some are calling for amendment while some are resisting,” he said.
He, however, said the fund was collaborating with the Mathematical Centre and the three other inter- University Centres in area like research.
Echono said that the fund, apart from funding research in COVID-19, was also funding research in Lassa- Fever and communicable diseases.
He, therefore, said that the COVID-19 vaccine project sponsored by the fund would be ready for first clinical trial in November this year.
The TETFund’s boss attributed the reforms to the combined effect by increased percentage and internal operation measures put in place by the management, saying that the fund exceeded the contribution it ever received in the past 10 years.
He said the fund had over 200 projects to commission soon, while promising to do more with the continued support of the Senate Committee. (NAN)