The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, has voted the sum of N70 billion for a Mini-Grid Solar Power Project to ease energy crisis in 18 Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Speaking at the 2025 TETFund National Town Hall Meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman, TETFund Board of Trustees, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari, said the new Mini-Grid Solar Power Project will provide renewable and cost-efficient electricity to 18 tertiary institutions across the country.
Masari expressed confidence that the investment will address one of the most persistent challenges in the education sector, which is erratic power supply.
According to him, the project represents “a deliberate step towards energy sustainability, innovation, and academic excellence.”
He described stable power as the backbone of effective teaching, research, and technological innovation, adding that the Fund’s investment will free institutions from unreliable national grid connections and crippling electricity costs.
The former Governor of Katsina State said the Fund has anchored its new direction on three pillars: transforming tertiary education into a hub of innovation and productivity; strengthening transparency and impact measurement; and expanding frontiers of research, technology, and entrepreneurship.
He stressed that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu has provided the policy foundation for these reforms, enabling TETFund to reposition itself as “a catalyst for national development through knowledge and innovation.”
On achievements of TETFund across campuses nationwide, Masari said the agency has funded the construction of modern lecture theatres, laboratories, libraries, ICT resource centres, and hostels.
“These projects are not mere structures. they are symbols of a nation investing in its future,” he said.
He further disclosed that TETFund has established 48 Centres of Excellence and multipurpose research laboratories nationwide, focusing on biotechnology, renewable energy, food security, governance, and health sciences.
On interventions in medical education, he said the Fund has launched medical simulation facilities in eight universities, providing students with practical clinical training in controlled environments — a first in Nigeria’s history.
He also stated that in agriculture, demonstration farms are helping institutions bridge theory and practice, enhancing food security while promoting agripreneurship among graduates.
Masari added that the Fund has also launched Innovation Hubs and Entrepreneurship Centres in 15 institutions to foster creativity and technology-driven enterprises, positioning Nigerian students as future job creators.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono, noted that the N70 billion power intervention is only one highlight of a far-reaching reform, adding that President Tinubu had gone even further by mobilizing over N200 billion in additional funding through alternative sources to complement TETFund’s investment, ensuring campuses nationwide are powered by independent and renewable energy.
“Mr. President is personally committed to ending the power crisis in our tertiary institutions. When you talk about Band A or Band C, those categories no longer apply to us. We are building self-sustaining, energy-secure campuses for the future,” Echono said.
The TETFund boss praised Tinubu’s unwavering leadership, recounting how the president personally halted attempts to reduce the education tax from 3 per cent to 2.5 per cent, thereby preserving billions in annual funding for the sector.
He said the president has also ordered a total rethink of student welfare, leading to the construction of 24 new Renewed Hope Hostels nationwide, with 72 more to come next year.
Echono added that TETFund will launch campus electric vehicle transport systems before the end of the year, in partnership with student unions, to ease mobility and cut costs.
“President Tinubu believes students deserve to learn and live in dignity. He insists that no Nigerian child should be denied education because of poverty, that is why we now have one of the most robust National Student Loan Schemes in the world,” he said.
