FG releases ₦38.93bn to 166 public tertiary institutions
- The Federal Government has released ₦38.93bn to 166 public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
- Universities received the largest share, ₦28.5bn, followed by polytechnics with ₦5.8bn and colleges of education with ₦4.7bn.
- The Finance Ministry said the money is for approved infrastructure projects and supports the agreement with ASUU.
The Federal Government has released ₦38.93bn to 166 tertiary institutions across the country under the Needs Assessment Revitalisation Fund, the Finance Ministry said on Sunday.
The money is for approved projects meant to close infrastructure gaps and improve teaching and learning facilities, according to a statement by Efe Ovuakporie, head of media at the ministry.
The 166 beneficiaries are 79 universities, 46 polytechnics and 41 colleges of education.
Where the money went
Universities received the largest share. The 79 universities were allocated ₦28.5bn, the 46 polytechnics ₦5.8bn and the 41 colleges of education ₦4.7bn.
That works out to about 73 per cent of the total for universities, about 15 per cent for polytechnics and about 12 per cent for colleges of education.
The ministry said the intervention is part of efforts to address the needs of public universities and to support measures agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU has repeatedly raised poor facilities and funding in its negotiations with government, and the ministry said the fund targets those longstanding infrastructure problems.
According to the statement, the money should let the schools start new projects or push forward approved ones that address critical infrastructure and other identified needs.
The ministry said the goal is to strengthen the quality of tertiary education, and that the Finance Ministry, the Education Ministry and the schools must work together so the funding brings real improvements in infrastructure and institutional capacity.
Nigerians who want the full list of beneficiary institutions and their individual allocations were asked to check the ministry's website, finance.gov.ng.
What happens next
The schools are expected to put the funds into the approved projects. Students and lecturers will be watching to see whether the classrooms, hostels, laboratories and workshops that have suffered years of neglect actually get fixed.
The release comes as the government says it has invested more than ₦1 trillion in tertiary education over two years, covering infrastructure, institutional capacity and access to higher education.
