The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has commissioned an Academic Publishing Centre, APC, at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, UNIZIK, Awka, Anambra State.
The centre is expected to boost indigenous textbook production, strengthen academic research and improve access to scholarly publications across tertiary institutions in the South-East.
Chairman of TETFund Board of Trustees, Hon Aminu Bello Masari, commissioned the facility on Friday.
The centre is designed to serve as a regional publishing hub, providing modern printing facilities and professional publishing services to universities and other tertiary institutions across the zone.
Represented by the South-East representative on the Board, Esther Ukachukwu, Masari said the facility underscored TETFund’s commitment to improving teaching, learning and research through strategic investments in the tertiary education sector.
He explained that the Academic Publishing Centre was established under the Fund’s Higher Education Book Development Project, an initiative designed to expand access to quality academic publications and strengthen indigenous publishing capacity in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Tracing the history of the initiative, Masari disclosed that TETFund’s Board of Trustees submitted a proposal to the Federal Government for N2 billion to commence the project in 2009, which was subsequently approved.
He said an additional N2.95 billion was provided in 2019, while the Technical Advisory Group Committee was reinvigorated and inaugurated in August of the same year to strengthen the project’s implementation.
According to him, a major component of the initiative was the establishment and equipping of model Academic Publishing Centres in selected institutions across the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory, with each facility expected to provide services to public tertiary institutions within its region.
The UNIZIK facility is therefore expected to provide a shared publishing platform for universities and other higher institutions in the South-East, enabling them to produce textbooks and other scholarly materials locally.
Masari described education as a strategic sector deserving sustained investment, assuring that TETFund would continue to introduce interventions that promote innovation, improve learning outcomes and advance research development.
He said: “TETFund will continue to deliver responsive intervention programmes and will be at the forefront in promoting creative and innovative approaches to educational learning and championing new literacy enhancing areas.”
The TETFund chairman, however, urged UNIZIK and other beneficiary institutions in the region to ensure that the facility was properly managed, effectively utilised and sustained to achieve its intended objectives.
He stressed that the Federal Government and the Fund expected the host institution and other beneficiaries to demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility in ensuring the centre became fully operational.
“It is the expectation of the Fund and that of the Federal Government that the beneficiaries will reciprocate this gesture by ensuring that the APC located in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, is put into operation, properly managed and sustained by the host and beneficiary institutions within the zone,” he said.
He also called for the cooperation of relevant stakeholders to guarantee the successful take-off of the centre, reaffirming the Fund’s commitment to transparency and accountability in its operations.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UNIZIK and Chairman of the Academic Publishing Centre Board, Prof. Bond Ugochukwu Stanley Anyaehie, described the commissioning as a significant milestone for the university and the wider academic community in the South-East.
Anyaehie pledged the institution’s commitment to ensuring that the centre became fully operational and fulfilled its mandate, adding that the university would work with other institutions in the region to establish an effective management framework and protect the facility.
“So, on my honour, I pledge to make use of it, and try to operate the board and also getting input from other universities to see how we can run it, and do all we can do to protect it,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to TETFund for locating the project at UNIZIK and appealed for additional interventions to support the university and other tertiary institutions in the region.
The commissioning featured an inspection of the centre’s facilities, including modern printing machines and other specialised equipment installed to support academic publishing. Dedicated personnel were also seen on duty in preparation for the commencement of operations.
The centre is expected to reduce the dependence of tertiary institutions in the South-East on external publishing services, encourage local production of academic materials and enhance the visibility of research outputs from the region.
Its establishment marks another intervention by TETFund aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s tertiary education system through investments in research, infrastructure and academic development.
