Maryam Abeeb
THE Federal Government through Tertiary Education Trust Fund has disclosed that the agency is targeting more than N500 billion education tax collection by 2023.
Chairman, Board of Trustees of (TETFund), Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, stated the government has injected more than N2.5 trillion in the development of infrastructure and staff development in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria in lthe last 10 years of establishment of the Fund.
He spoke at the 3rd edition of Tax Payers Forum with the theme: TETFUND Intervention: Catalyst for Transforming Tertiary Education in Nigeria” held in Lagos, where he also promised to ensure that intervention to the beneficiary institutions be increased by 50 per cent next year and 100 per cent in two years.
The event which had the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his deputy, Olufemi Hamzat, as guest of honour was attendded by captains of industries, academia and other stakeholders.
Lagos State, Governor in his speech delivered by his deputy, Hamzat, however, insisted that funding for the education sector must be prioritised, noting that TETFund was then established as a child of necessity to intervene in the ailing universities system and that universities in Nigeria would have been worse than the current situation without TETFund.
He, therefore, appealed to the companies private operating in Nigeria to be consistent in their remittances, while also charging TETFund to endeavour to create Silicon Valley for Nigeria and focus on how to take research to the market.
Ibrajim-Imam, disclosed that for this year alone disclosed TETFund budgeted the sum of N300 billion to over 226 higher institutions across the country in 2021.
He noted that the agency had budgeted N120 billion to education in 2020, adding that this was increased to N300 billion in 2021, while tasking the Federal Inland Revenue Service on increasing the education tax collection to N500 billion in the next two years.
According to him, more than N30 billon was set aside for academic staff training in the various institutions across the country.
Ibrahim-Imam, said in response to the challenges of acute shortage of hostels in Universities in the country, the Board of Trustee of TETfund has approved the construction of 160,000 additional bed spaces in the institutions across the country.
Lagos State, Governor in his speech read by his deputy, Olufemi Hamzat, insisted that funding for the education sector must be prioritised, noting that TETFund was then established as a child of necessity to intervene in the ailing universities system and that universities in Nigeria would have been worse than the current situation without TETFund.
