Akume Tasks Tertiary Institutions on Accountability, Says TETFund More Than Building Fund
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, has charged tertiary institutions to match increased federal investment in education with accountability, prompt utilisation of funds and measurable impact on teaching, research and graduates.
Akume gave the charge on Wednesday in Abuja at the 2026 TETFund Town Hall Dialogue with Stakeholders.
Represented by Pharm. Aliyu Zakari-Jiya, the SGF described tertiary education as national development infrastructure, saying Nigeria’s greatest natural resource is not only what lies beneath the soil, but also what sits in its classrooms, laboratories, workshops and libraries.
“Nigeria’s greatest natural resource is not only what lies beneath our soil. It is also what sits in our classrooms, our laboratories, our workshops and our libraries… the talent, curiosity and enterprise of the Nigerian people,” he said.
Akume added that education should not be seen as just one sector competing with roads, power or health, but as the conveyor belt that produces the engineers who build roads, the scientists who improve agriculture, the doctors who protect health and the innovators who will create future industries.
According to him, investment in tertiary education is investment in productivity, competitiveness, social mobility and national resilience. The key question, he said, is: “What national capability has Nigeria created through our investment in tertiary education?”
Akume said TETFund’s statutory mandate goes beyond physical infrastructure to include instructional materials and equipment, research and publication, and academic staff training and development, with requirements for monitoring, evaluation and audited reporting.
He warned that tertiary institutions cannot succeed with buildings alone.
“This understanding is important because there is no modern university, polytechnic, college of education, that will succeed with buildings only. Research, well equipped workshops, knowledge development infrastructure for training teachers must be present,” he said.
The SGF noted that TETFund investment has grown significantly under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which brings both opportunity and responsibility. He said the return on investment must be measured not just by buildings erected, but by better teaching, scholarship, governance and graduates.
He called for reforms to ensure postgraduate training strengthens Nigerian institutions, research moves from the laboratory to the marketplace and public policy, and institutions share costly facilities to produce more patents, licences, start-ups and solutions to national challenges.
He also stressed the need to improve student experience, including accommodation, reliable power, connectivity, laboratories, libraries and safe campuses.
In a statement issued by Yomi Odunuga, the Special Adviser to the SGF on Media and Publicity, Akume expressed concern that some institutions have delayed accessing allocations already made available to them.
“This self-inflicted challenge could be overcome if boards and governing councils make oversight, maintenance and measurable impact central to their stewardship,” he said, urging institutions to access funds promptly, deliver projects properly, maintain what has been built and report what the investments achieve.
He assured that the administration will sustain predictable investment in tertiary education and ensure that TETFund complements, rather than substitutes, the responsibilities of institutional proprietors.
He added that government would build stronger partnerships with industry, alumni, students and civil society to commercialise research, support scholarships, protect public assets and hold all stakeholders accountable.
“The ultimate measure of TETFund’s impact will be the capability Nigeria builds. Let us build institutions worthy of Nigeria’s ambition and human capital equal to Nigeria’s promise,” he said.
