The Academic Staff Union of Universities has secured the backing of the Federal Government to investigate vice chancellors of public universities accused of corruption and mismanagement of Tertiary Education Trust Fund allocations.
The union’s President, Prof Chris Piwuna, disclosed this at the public presentation of 72 TETFund-sponsored academic textbooks and an additional 10 academic textbooks for distribution to tertiary institutions nationwide, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
He raised concerns over the weak supervision of vice chancellors in implementing TETFund projects, noting that some misused the funds intended for their institutions.
This comes as the union also accused TETFund of allowing private institutions to benefit from its programmes.
The Federal Government had, at the event, presented 82 academic textbooks authored by Nigerian scholars to strengthen teaching and learning in tertiary institutions across the country.
Speaking, Piwuna lamented that the money being allocated to universities in recent years was not utilised effectively.
“Yes, there is plenty of money being given to the universities in recent years. Sadly, many of them have not utilised it effectively.
“While some of them have mismanaged it, others have used them for different purposes than what it was meant for.
“They come back because they know that TETFUND will make another disbursement to the institutions the following year,” Piwuna said.
He added, “I think there should be more scrutiny about what’s been going on with TETFUND interventions in the universities, especially in the Centres of Excellence.
“TETFund has just added about six more centres of excellence to the existing 30 that are obviously not well. Most of them are performing below expectations. Hence, they must be made to account for those monies.
“We are going to turn our searchlights on the VCs and our universities soon. Honestly, we will. Because funds are not being properly managed at the university levels, we are going to take them up to make sure that they account for all of them.”
Accusing TETFund of allowing private institutions to benefit from its programmes, Piwuna said the intervention fund was created to strengthen public institutions and warned that extending benefits to private universities undermined that mandate.
“I also want to report to you, honourable minister, that the Executive Secretary of TETFund has dropped the ball, because private institutions do benefit from TETFund. Individuals being sponsored, we have that record,” he said.
He argued that such support contradicted the principles on which the fund was established.
“So you can’t use funds from TETFund to sponsor any private institution,” Piwuna said, adding that the fund was designed to strengthen public universities and other publicly funded tertiary institutions.
Piwuna also warned that continued support for private institutions could encourage more private investors to establish universities with the expectation of accessing public funds.
“If TETFund continues to support private institutions, we believe it will incentivise private individuals to continue to establish private universities, because TETFund will be there,” he said.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, expressed support for ASUU’s planned scrutiny of vice chancellors, especially regarding TETFund disbursements.
“Several of our vice chancellors, rectors, and provosts are running the institutions like an empire.
“We need your (ASUU) help in ensuring that fiduciary responsibilities are met and that they are held accountable.
“Every single naira that we deploy to those institutions should be used the way they are meant to be used. We would work with you (ASUU) to ensure that that’s being done,” he said.
Speaking on the books, Alausa said they were developed under the Higher Education Book Development Intervention Project of TETFund.
“This initiative underscores the Federal Government’s commitment to quality education and the promotion of academic excellence in Nigeria’s higher education system,” Alausa said.
He explained that the intervention aimed to address the shortage of locally authored textbooks and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign publications.
According to the ministry, Nigerian tertiary institutions had increasingly relied on foreign textbooks, putting pressure on foreign exchange and discouraging indigenous authorship.
He stressed the importance of supporting Nigerian scholars in producing quality academic textbooks to ensure the availability of relevant learning materials across diverse disciplines, particularly in science, technology, and engineering.
Addressing the authors, Alausa said,
He also addressed the authors directly, “We can liberalise the use of these books so that they become available worldwide. I assure the authors that this is not about money; you have not undertaken this work for profit, but for the pursuit of academic excellence.
“Therefore, we must find a way to make these books accessible beyond tertiary institutions.”
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the initiative was designed to address the persistent shortage of quality tertiary-level textbooks in Nigeria and strengthen teaching, learning, and research in higher institutions.
He disclosed that 72 of the titles were newly authored under the TETFund project, while 10 others were written by reputable scholars and secured for use by beneficiary institutions.
He said, “The persistent shortage of high-quality tertiary-level textbooks in Nigeria has long posed a major challenge to teaching, learning, and research.
“Beyond the issue of limited quantity, there has also been a compelling need to improve the quality of locally produced academic textbooks.
“It was this concern that led to the establishment of the TETFund Higher Education Book Development Intervention Project, a strategic initiative designed to bridge this gap and promote the development of credible, locally authored academic resources.”
Echono revealed that the fund had published 202 academic textbooks to date, with several others undergoing evaluation.
“We have so far published a total of 202 titles of academic textbooks, while several others are currently undergoing evaluation.
“At the end of today, we shall commence the distribution of over 400,000 of these books to our beneficiary institutions across the country,” he said.
He added, “It is also pertinent to note that, in our continued effort to ensure prudent management of resources and value for money, TETFund has reviewed certain operational modalities under the project.
“Authors will now receive monetary honoraria based on the content and number of pages in their books, along with 20 complimentary copies, rather than the previous practice of receiving 1,000 copies of their publications.”
Earlier, participants observed a minute’s silence in honour of Valerie Young Harry, one of the authors who passed away shortly before the event.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees at TETFund, Aminu Masari, described the late author’s work as a lasting legacy, noting that knowledge passed from generation to generation ensures a person’s impact outlives their lifetime.
Masari stressed the importance of applying knowledge practically and called for strategies to commercialise the books so authors and their families could benefit from their intellectual contributions.
TETFund was established by the Nigerian government to address chronic underfunding in public tertiary institutions, including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Funded through a tax on the profits of companies operating in Nigeria, TETFund is tasked with financing infrastructure development, academic staff training, research, and the production of locally authored educational materials.
Its mandate has historically focused on strengthening publicly funded institutions, which often struggle with inadequate facilities, limited research capacity, and declining educational standards due to insufficient government support.
Over time, TETFund has become a critical source of funding for initiatives aimed at improving the quality and accessibility of public higher education in Nigeria.
ASUU, which represents academic staff in public universities, has consistently emphasised the need for strict adherence to TETFund’s mandate.
ASUU argues that allowing private universities to access TETFund resources undermines the fund’s purpose and diverts scarce resources away from public institutions that are heavily dependent on government support.
