A Publication of the Public Relations Unit, Office of the Executive Secretary Tertiary Education Trust Fund Vol.1 No.2, October 2013

PANORAMAPANORAMANEWSNEWS

Contd. on Page 2

Contd. on Page 2

TETFund 4 BOT: OUR TARGET IS ZEROUNACCESSED FUNDS

th

… Babayo

The newly inaugurated fourthBoard of Trustees (BOT) ofTertiary Education Trust Fund

(TETFund) has set achieving zerounaccessed fund level as its target amongother things.

Chairman of the Board, Dr. Musa Babayowho disclosed this during a specializedinterview with the media urged other

members of the BOTa s w e l l a sManagement and Staffo f the Fund seethemselves as the foot-soldiers of PresidentG o o d l u c k E b e l eJonathan GCFR.

Babayo explained thatthe vision and missionof his Board is notdifferent from that ofthe Government andthe President, pointingout that there can only

be one vision for the education sectorwhich all must work towards achieving.

According to him, “My vision basically isMr. President's vision for the educationsector. We are foot soldiers of Mr.President. We are here basically to helphim and government to actualize thevision, the vision of reforming not onlythe educational sector but our economyand by general extension, our politics.

That is what basically the PresidentTransformationAgenda is all about.

“But at specific level, we havementioned a challenge, the challenge ofaccess. Today we have huge volume offinancial resources for the universitiesunaccessed, I will want to see a zero levelon or before the 31 of December, 2013.

“That is what will gladden my heart andthat is what will make everybody notonly in TETFund but in the entire sectorhappy. I am appealing to the institutionalmanagers to help us achieve that target.

“If there are issues, we are always opento receive suggestions on how we canimprove on our template to make accesseasier but like I mentioned severallyduring one of our strategic planningworkshop where we talked to all the ViceChancellors, Rectors and Provosts ofColleges of Education, we say we have aresponsibility to ensure that we keep thetrust reposed in us with absolute fear ofGod and integrity.

“And therefore we will not circumventthe rules but we will make sure that we

st

Acting Executive Secretary ofTertiary Education Trust Fund(TETFund), Mallam Aliyu

Na'iya, has been honoured with anAward for selfless and meritoriousservice to the country by Nigerian post-graduate students in diaspora.

The colourful award ceremony whichtook place at the Nigeria HighCommission in London, drew a largecrowd of Nigerians and friends of thecountry living in London, on Saturday12 October 2013.

The prestigious recognition was givento Mallam Na'Iya by the 2011 NationalYouth Service Corp (NYSC) President'sHonours Award Winners currentlypursuing post-graduate studies invarious Institutions of higher learning inthe United Kingdom.

Explaining rationale for theaward, the former Youth Corpsmembers said Mallam Na'Iya,through his leadership positionat TETFund, has demonstrateduncommon qualities and visionin promoting quality educationand building bridges across thelength and breadth of Nigeria.

According to the post-graduatestudents, Nigerians can attestto the relentless efforts ofMallam Aliyu Na'iya in not onlyensuring that TETFund stays on courseof its mandate, but also keep itscommitment to the President's HonoursAwardees, by disbursing the funds fortheir studies in the United Kingdom.

They recalled the pain taken by Mallam

Na'Iya to visit the scholars during amonitoring tour, where he visited themin their respective institutions in theUnited Kingdom. This, the scholarsnoted, was a mark of purposefulleadership and commitment to service.The scholars expressed gratitude toTETFund for not only helping the

NIGERIAN STUDENTS IN DIASPORAHONOUR TETFUND BOSS

Right: Acting. Executive Secretary, TETFund, Mallam Aliyu Na'Iya receivingthe Award in London

TETFund BOT Chairman, Dr. Musa Babayo

News Panorama

2

shorten our administrative procedures ifneed be, by creating more functions,strengthening existing ones and wherenecessary, even working extra hours toensure that we meet timelines anddeadlines” he pointed.

On how the institutions can change so asto ensure they access funds allocated tothem within any given year, theTETFund Chairman advised that, “If youhave a problem of hostel, academic staffbuilding or laboratory or whatever,structures that will add value, structuresthat are within the core mandate area ofthe fund, the core mandate areas Imentioned to you earlier, upgrading ofteaching and learning environment,r e s to ra t ion , r ehab i l i t a t ion andconsolidation of the educationalinfrastructure, the areas of question arethose areas that don't have anything to dowith learning.

“We cannot for example approve or giveyou Approval In Principle (AIP) in thearea of furnishing of residency or forbuilding perimeter fence. They areoutside the core mandate areas and forthat reason, we don't do it. We encouragethe owners of the institutions because weare interventionist agency, to do thosethings, they are important and critical butthe intervention fund is not for that

purpose. It is only for the areas I haveenumerated. “They should be able toaccess allocation within a period of30days from their engagement ofcontractors which they can pre-qualifyand do in advance because they knowthey have a procurement activity in thefuture; they don't have to wait for the fundto come before they start that activity.

“Approve the drawings and other servicesdrawing they have if they want to do anyconstruction, so that the moment theyhave an allocation, they just submit forreconciliation and they get it in 48hoursand they go to the public domain andbegin their due process, they choose theirown contractors and we follow them with

monitoring.

“This is a challenge to them and this issomething that I am appealing to them toplease take seriously so that collectivelywe can come together and resolve someof the challenges that are impacting onthis sector, now and in the future.

“There will always be challenges,10years, 20years or 30years from now,there will always be new issue that wewant to work on but everybody mustmake his own contribution. Governmentand Mr. President are doing so much,other stakeholders within the value chainshould equally do the same and togetherwe will win” Babayo stated.

Federal Government achieve itstransformation agenda for tertiaryeducation but also for the visionarybuilding of bridges of unity in thecountry by getting involved with theNational Youth Service Corps schemeand s t r eng then ing i t t h roughsponsorship the President's HonoursAward.

This, the scholars noted, has helpedthem acquire Master Degrees in variousfields, thus getting them ready tocontribute to nation building. Theyobserved that TETFund was responsiblefor the presence of a large number ofNigerian Scholars studying in theUnited Kingdom, under the twinprogrammes of the President's AwardScholarship Scheme and the AcademicStaff Training and Development(ASTD) programme of TETFund.

The award ceremony which was hostedby the Nigerian High Commissioner tothe United Kingdom, Dr. Dalhatu SarkiTafida, was also attended by formerHead of State, General Yakubu Gowon,Mr. Victor Bala Kona, Dr. (Mrs) Annah

Kolawale who represented theTETFund Board of Trustees.Others at the occasion included MallamUmar Bukar, Deputy DirectorProcurement; Mr. Sam Piwuna, DeputyDirector Public Relations; Mr. GbengaArolasafe, Head of ICT and Mr. UmohBassey of the Academic Staff Trainingand Development Department, all ofTETFund.

Speaking at the ceremony, the NigerianHigh Commissioner to UnitedKingdom, Dr. DalhatuSarki Tafida, notedt h a t t h e Aw a r dr e c i p i e n t s w e r edeserving of therecognition and urgedthem to keep workinghard to develop thecountry. He also paidglowing tribute to theformer Head of State,G e n e r a l Ya k u b uGowon GCFR, forinitiating the NYSCscheme when he wasHead of State.

On his part, General Yakubu GowonGCFR saluted the scholars for hoistingthe flag of the NYSC scheme in Londonby recognizing the contributions ofnotable Nigerians. He wished them thebest in all their future endeavours.

Mallam Aliyu Na'iya, who was visiblytouched by the recognition bestowed onhim, received the Award which hededicated to the entire Managementand Staff of TETFund.

STUDENTS IN DIASPORA HONOUR TETFUND BOSS

OUR TARGET IS ZERO UNACCESSED FUNDS

2nd Left: Ag. ES, TETFund, Mallam Aliyu Na’iya, Mrs. Anna Kolawole,Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Nigerian High Commissioner to UK,Dr. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida during the Award Ceremony.

L-R: Acting Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mal. Aliyu Na'Iya and BOT Chairman, Dr. Musa Babayo at theinauguration of the new Boards

News Panorama

3

Acting Director, Human ResourceManagement, Mallam AminuA n a s h a s l a u d e d t h e

Management of Tertiary Education TrustFund (TETFund) for its welfare packageto staff, pointing out that it will continueto ensure the staff put in their best for thefund.

Mallam Anas who spoke during a shortceremony to felicitate with three staff ofthe Department of Human ResourceManagement for safe delivery of theirnew babies, thanked the staff of theDepartment for the initiative to celebratewith their colleagues.

According to him, what the staff of theDepartment are doing is akin to the largerideology of the management of the Fundthat periodically extend welfare package

WELFARE PACKAGE WILL SPUR STAFF… Mallam Anas

…As 3 Staff Get Gifts For New Babiesto staff as a way ofencouraging them. “Onbehalf of all staff of theDepartment of Human ofResource Management, Iwant to thank every one ofyou that initiated thiswelfare package for yourcolleagues who just hadnew babies. I am mosthappy because the welfarepackage covers those thatare bereaved also.

“Your action goes tocompliment what the Management doesperiodically whenever such thinghappens. While I join you all in thankingAlmighty God for those of our colleaguesthat just had new babies join theirr e spec t i ve fami ly, we equa l lycommiserate with theperson that was bereaved.

“On the lighter side, Iw a n t t o u s e t h i sopportunity to pray forour colleagues that Godwill grant them childrenwhile those that are yet toget married will find theirlife partner so that we willhave people to carry onwhen we have retired” headded.

Mrs. Mary Diodemise Williams, Mr.Zaharadeen Maska Salisu and Mr.Ahmed Nasiru, all staff of Department ofHuman Resource Management were theproud parents of the new babies and gotgift items which included bicycles,Baby-Crawler, Baby Diapers amongothers.

The short ceremony which took place inthe office of the Director, HumanResource Management also witnessedthe presentation of cash support of N30,000.00 to Mr. Bashar Yahaya of the samedepartment who was recently bereaved.

Present at the short ceremony wereDeputy Director, General Services, Mr.Ben Ebikwo, Mr. Okunlola Kolapo,Mallam Yakubu Yahaya, MallamAbdullahi Bunza, Hajia Jimoh Saa'datu,Mrs. Abraham Mabel among other staffof the department.

NATIONAL MERIT AWARDS GOVERNINGCOUNCIL PARLEYS TETFUND

Th eG o v e r n i n gB o a r d o f

Nigerian NationalM e r i t A w a r d( N N M A ) h a sd e s c r i b e d t h eTertiary EducationT r u s t F u n d(TETFund) as ana g e n c y o fgovernment worthyof emulation.Chairman of theGoverning Council,P r o f . G r a c eOlutunla who ledthe five-memberteam during a visit

to the Fund, urged the Management ofTETFund to avail the Council neededsupport in terms of organizationalstructure as well as condition of servicewhich has set staff of TETFund on a highpedestal worthy of emulation.Prof. Olutunla who was received by theActing Executive Secretary of TETFund,Mallam Aliyu Na'Iya alongside otherManagement staff used the occasioned todisclose that the Nigerian NationalMeriat Awards (NNMA) as an agency ofgovernment has been operating withoutany staff employed by the agency.She explained that most of the staff withthe agency werethose seconded fromother government agencies, a situationthat has denied the agency of boasting ofany good staff or concrete organizationalstructure that can help build and sustain it.

According to her, the visit to such ana g e n c y l i k e T E T F u n d t h a t i schampioning the transformation agenda

Deputy Director, Human Resource, Mallam Aminu Anas (middle) with \staff of DHRM

L-R: Deputy Directors in Department of Human Resource management,Mr. Ben Ebikwo, Mallam Aminu Anas and other staff of the Department

Acting Executive Secretary, Mallam Aliyu Na'Iya handing over in-house publicationsto the Chairman Governing Board of Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA),Prof. Grace Olutunla as other members of Management look on.

News Panorama

4

The 2013 Tertiary Education TrustFund (TETFund) and the FederalInland Revenue Service (FIRS)

Annual Interact ive Forum wassuccessfully held across the six geo-political zones in the country between the19 and 29 ofAugust, 2013.

This years' forum is the 4 in the seriesand was very successful. It was initiatedin 2010 to foster a closer collaborationbetween the two sister agencies in themanagement of education tax.

This year's theme was tagged: ''TwoDecades of Transformation in theNigerian Tertiary Education System-TheImpact of Education Tax'' was describedas apt by participants because it capturedtransformative strides of the Fund inrebuilding the education sector to be atpar with what is obtainable in otherclimes. It was attended by officials fromboth agencies and some benefittinginstitutions.The Assistant Director, Planning, in the

th th

th

Department Corporate PlanningDevelopment, Mr. Olusegun Jeboda,who represented the Acting ExecutiveSecretary, Mallam Aliyu Na'Iya, whomade the paper presentation highlightedthe roles and key achievements of the

Tert iary Educat ion Trust Fund(TETFund) in the actualization of themandate given to it with respect to theTransformation Agenda of the FederalGovernment.

2013 TETFUND/FIRS FORUM HOLDS

of the Federal Government will go a longway in helping to shape the future of theNigerian National Merit Awards as anagency.Prof. Olutunla said the visit, aside helpingthe Governing Board acquaint itself withthe operations and structure of TETFund,it is aimed at using information andexperienced garnered promote the questof NNMA to restructure and reorganizeits operations for better service delivery.

The visiting team added that though it hasbeen using staff on 'secondment' fromother agencies and ministries for itsoperations, it has however, receivedbudgetary approval to recruit permanentstaff.

In his response, theAct ing Execu t iveSecretary, MallamAliyu Nai'ya whoreceived the visitorsa l o n g s i d e o t h e rm e m b e r s o fM a n a g e m e n tc o m m e n d e d t h eN N M A f o rs h o w c a s i n g g o o dmaintenance culturewith their propertywhich the Fund alsopatronize.

M a l l a m N a ' I y ainformed the visitors of the establishmentof TETFund as an agency in 1993 whichhe attributed to be a result of ASUUstruggle and how it started realintervention in 1999.

The Acting Executive Secretary pointedout Fund has witnessed three Board ofTrustees (BOT) since inception, namingthem as the Establishment Board, TakeOff Board, and the Consolidation Board.Of recent, the fourth Board of Trustees forthe Fund has been inaugurated

The Acting Executive Secretary and theManagement Team explained how theFund exited from funding all level of

,

education to refocus on public ownedUniversities, Polytechnics and Collegesof Education.

The visitors were informed of thefunctions of the Board of Trustees, thearea of focus and mandate of TETFund.Aside other advice given to the visitors,the Acting Executive Secretary handedover copy of the EstablishmentStructure/Organogram of TETFund,Condition of Service as well as in housepublications of TETFund to the visitorswho expressed satisfaction for thereception accorded them as well as for theadvice, materials and promise of furtherassistance when needed from TETFund.

Aside the Chairman of the NNMAGoverning Council, others that were onthe visiting team include Prof. OkpakoEnaohwo (Board Member) , Dr.Abiodun O y e m a d e ( B o a r dMember), Mr. Afuwape Oladipo(Assistant Secretary), and Mercy MatildaDanbo (PrincipalAdmin Officer)Other members of Management thatjoined Mallam Na'Iya to receive thevisitors are Alhaji Saidu Idris (Director,Finance and Investment), Mr. Steve Ohue(Director, Monitoring and Evaluation),Mallam Aminu Anas (Deputy Director,Human Resource), Mr. Ukim Efiok(Head, Legal Unit), and Bar. SamuelPiwuna (Head, Public Relations).

Some members of TETFund Management in a group photograph with the visitorsfrom Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA).

2 Left: Deputy Director, Human Resource, Mallam Aminu Anas who represented TETFund with otherparticipants at the 2013 TETFund/FIRS Annual Interactive Forum in Makurdi, Benue State.

nd

News Panorama

5

The FIRS paper presentation was done bythe Director, Large Taxpayers 'Department, Mr. Innocent Ohagwa whogave an overview of Education Tax,Assessment and collection procedures.

He noted that FIRS has made its mark intax revenue collect ion for thegovernment, adding that the agencywould continue to perform its duty,despite the challenges posed by taxevaders.

He commended TETFund for the annualforum, which he explained fosters closercollaborations between the sisteragencies, while calling on TETFund toshowcase itself very well by letting thetax payers see how their money is beingu t i l i s e d t h r o u g h p i c t u r e s a n d

advertisements in the media.

Comments and contributions came fromofficials of FIRS and benefittinginstitutions who enumerated the varioustransformations TETFund has made ininstitutions across the country butexpressed worry that the Fund is doingvery little in terms of showcasing theselaudable achievements.

They proposed that the Fund should havea regular platform on selected mediathrough which the public and taxpayerswould see these intervention projects andother milestones made by the agency.

They were of the opinion that displayingpictures of projects at strategic locationsacross the states, on-line publication of

such project pictures as well as makingthem available to taxpayers would go along way to boost the confidence of thesecompanies who actually provide thismoney on annual basis. They applaudedwhat the agency is doing but theemphasis was to reassure taxpayers thattheir education taxes are properlyutilised.

Participants agreed that point raised wasvital and officials of TETFund promisedto take necessary action in that regard.

There was a guided tour of TETFundprojects to the University of Lagos.Several projects, both completed and on-go ing were app lauded by theparticipants.

House of Representa t ivesCommit tee Chairman onEducation, Comrade Aminu

Suleiman Goro has applauded theTer t iary Educat ion Trust Fund(TETFund) for dominant role it hasp layed in the development ofinfrastructure in the nation's publicinstitutions.

Comrade Aminu stated this when he ledthe members of the EducationCommittee on an oversight function tothe agency.

He said this would be the first time

LAWMAKERS LAUD TETFUND'S GIANT STRIDE

Nigeria is having an agency ofgovernment that has been able to make abig difference by living up to its mandate.

He explained that the committee wereimpressed by the number of infrastructurespread across the various institutions,most of which were single-handedlyfunded by the TETFund.

He said; “Nigeria has for the first timebeen able to put in place an organisationthat has been able to fulfil the mandatesfor which it was established. We haveseen a lot of befitting infrastructure inmany schools we have visited. Most

beautiful edifices adorning theinstitutions today were funded byTETFund.

Also speaking at the event, Chairman ofthe Board of Trustees (BOT) ofTETFund, Dr. Musa Babayo said theagency has been making tremendousefforts at totally overhauling theinstitutions, but decried the hugebacklog of unaccessed funds by theinstitutions.

He blamed the scenario on the lack ofcapacity of these institutions to come upwith quality proposals, which is a pre-requisite for them to access these funds.

Babayo also explained that over 60 perc e n t o f t e r t i a r y i n s t i t u t i o n sdevelopments have been taken over byTETFund, and urged the management ofthe various schools to address the issueof institutional capacity building so as topave way for easy access of their funds.

On the question of some statesbenefitting more than others, Dr. Babayostated that TETFund has put in placemeasures to ensure that no state orinstitution was short-changed bymandating each state to selectinstitutions of their choice for SpecialHigh Impact Projects. He also notedthat about and

are waiting to be accessed bythe Universities, Polytechnics andColleges of Education respectively.

N121 billion, N48billionN22 billion

L-R: Chairman BOT of TETFund, Dr. Musa Babayo, Chairman House Committee on Education,Honourable Aminu Suleiman Goro, Supervising Minister of Education, Barrister Nyesom Wike and others.

News Panorama

6

TETFund BOT Chairman, Dr. Musa Babayo Acting Executive Secretary, Mallam Aliyu Na'IyaMrs. Annah M. Kolawole

(BOT Member South-West)

Barr. Richard Anetekhai(BOT Member South-South)

Mr. Chinedu Onu(BOT Member South-East)

Prof. Patricia Donli(BOT North Central)

Hon. Victor Bala Kona(BOT North-East)

Alhaji Mustapha Ibrahim(BOT North-West)

DD/PR, Barr. Sam Piwuna anchoring the reception in honour of the new TETFundas the Acting Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mal. Aliyu Na'Iya (R) and BOT

Chairman, Dr. Musa Babayo at the inauguration of the new Boards

BOTmembers

L-R: Acting Executive Secretary of TETFund, Mal. Aliyu Na'Iya and BOT Chairman,Dr. Musa Babayo at the inauguration of the new Boards

L-R: Acting Executive Secretary, Mal. Aliyu Na'Iya and BOT South-West, Mrs. Annah M.Kolawole during the award in UK

L-R: Staff of TETFund and their counterpart from National Universities Commission (NUC)sharing banter before the award in UK