By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) and Chancellor, Precious Cornerstone University, Ibadan, Bishop Francis Wale Oke has called for review of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Act of 2011.
Bishop Oke made the call while speaking as the guest lecturer at the maiden Archbishop Benson Idahosa Memorial Lecture held at the Legacy Campus of the Benson Idahosa University, Benin, on The Role of Faith-Based Universities in National Transformation. Bishop Wale Oke
According to the PFN President, the review became necessary to enable privately-owned tertiary institutions in the country benefit from the fund just like those owned by the government.
He stated that in doing this, the Federal Government should through the National Assembly evolve mechanism for the amendment of the TETFUND Act, considering the fact that the circumstances have changed from the time when the Education Trust Fund (ETF) was established in 1993, with private universities now entrenched and significant players in the development of education space.
Bishop Wale Oke noted that the inclusion of private universities as beneficiaries, would enable them to access funds for essential physical infrastructure for teaching and learning, institutional material and equipment; research and publications and academic, staff training and development, as well as other critical needs that would help with the overall improvement and maintenance of standards in the higher educational institutions, helping TETFUND fulfil the mandate for which it was established.
Speaking further, Bishop Wale Oke declared that faith-based universities have made significant contributions, not only in the area of human resource development but in other aspects of national development, and as such, it would not be out of place to include them in the funding.
The PFN President said “Faith-based universities have become major drivers of economic advancement in Nigeria, with products of these institutions playing outstanding roles in the different sectors”.
” In particular, the contribution being made by graduates of faith-based universities in the area of financial technology solutions and entrepreneurship development in the country. Evidence of the quality of learning and all-round development available at these institutions is found in the successes attained by some of the graduates of faith-based universities such as Paystack founders, Sola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Sycamore Founders Babatunde Akin-Moses and Onyinye Okonji, as well as Founders of Piggyvest and Thrive, among others”
Bishop Wale Oke maintained that the huge investment in human and material resources undertaken by the proprietors of these institutions, which has created a more conducive teaching and learning environment, as well stable and predictable academic calendar they run, were partly responsible for the level of success being recorded in the country’s education sector.
“This has not only been buttressed by reports of the accreditation exercise conducted by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) with private universities doing better than their publicly-owned counterparts, recent results at the Nigerian Law School have also strengthened the argument for the quality of education in private universities, with their products emerging among the best in the Bar examination’, he said.
The PFN President submitted that the mandate of TETFUND for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary institutions in Nigeria could only be partially met if its focus continues to remain exclusively on government-owned universities at the expense of private universities which constitute over 40% of the universities in Nigeria, adding that greater progress could only be made in the development of tertiary education if the support offered by TETFUND is extended to privately-owned tertiary institutions.
The renowned cleric lauded the deceased Archbishop Idahosa, who was the third National President of the PFN, not only for his visionary and ground-breaking works in the Christendom, but for his foresight and the pioneering role in the area of tertiary education, tracing the institution he set up becoming the first to apply to the NUC for approval, which later crystalized into Benson Idahosa University, being one of the first few private universities licenced by the Federal Government.
Among dignitaries present at the occasion include the Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, Pastors E.A. Adeboye, Ayo Oritejafor, Rev Felix Omobude, Professor Pat Utomi who is the Pro-Chancellor of the university, former Edo Governor Lucky Igbinedion and his father Osama of Benin and dignitaries from all walks of life.
