Lagos State Governor Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu appealed to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to relax some of its guidelines so that state-owned universities can access the N4.9 billion intervention fund earmarked for them between 2017 and 2023.
Governor Sanwo-Olu made this appeal on Monday during a courtesy visit by the House of Representatives Committee on TETFUND, chaired by Princess Miriam Onuoha, at Lagos House.
The committee, on an oversight mission, disclosed that Lagos State, along with several others, had failed to access the intervention funds earmarked by the Federal Government.
During discussions with the governor, committee chair Onuoha specifically revealed that Lagos State had not accessed the N4.9 billion allocated over the past six years due to its inability to meet the funding criteria.
She stated that the committee aimed to understand the reasons behind Lagos’ failure to access the funds and propose solutions to overcome these challenges.
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Onuoha added that the committee would visit other states to ensure affected states could access the funds, with Lagos being the first stop.
In response, Governor Sanwo-Olu pleaded with the committee to increase the funding allocated to the state, noting that Lagos now had three universities and was planning to obtain approval for a fourth one.
The governor commended the House Committee on TETFUND for its commitment to ensuring Nigerian students have access to quality education, which he said could reduce the phenomenon of “Japa syndrome” in education tourism.
