•Education minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has lamented that 85 per cent of Nigerian students sent abroad on government scholarships never returned to contribute to national development.
He also enjoined tertiary institutions nationwide to phase out satellite campuses, describing them as unsustainable and inefficient, reports The Guardian.
Alausa, who spoke at a one-day engagement with heads of institutions, bursars, and procurement directors in Lagos, said the federal government was repositioning the funding framework to ensure public resources are used efficiently.
On foreign scholarships, Alausa revealed a shift in policy, explaining that more funds would now be invested in building local capacity.
“Our evidence-based analysis showed that 85 per cent of Nigerian students sent abroad on government scholarships never returned to contribute to national development. Many of the programmes they studied could have been handled effectively within our own institutions,” he stated.
To address this, he said 28 Centres of Excellence have been established across public and private institutions to offer postgraduate programmes, enhance research and create jobs. He also raised concerns about the unchecked proliferation of satellite campuses, calling it “unsustainable and counterproductive.”
While urging institutions to wind down on satellite campuses, the minister said those operating such should consider congregating them into one campus.
He said: “Don’t play politics with education. Those with satellite campuses, look at how you can congregate them into one campus. We want to get maximum value for every fund, and tertiary institutions should be value-driven. Migrate away from satellite campuses.”
Alausa said the engagement with institutions from the southern zone was aimed at reviewing the 2024/2025 intervention guidelines and fostering transparency.
“There’s no doubt that TETFund has greatly benefited our tertiary institutions through numerous interventions and improvements. However, under the directive of President Bola Tinubu, our focus now is to ensure maximum value from every naira spent in our institutions,” he further stated.
On his part, TETFund’s Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, said the agency is moving towards a more sustainable and performance-driven funding model.
Echono said this is in line with the broader objective of reducing institutions’ reliance on government subvention and to encourage Public-Private Partnerships, particularly in areas such as hostel development, innovation parks and service facilities.” He warned that underperforming institutions risk being removed from the list of TETFund beneficiaries.
“Institutional expansion must be checked, and we must avoid unnecessary duplication of mandates.
“Institutions that consistently fail to access, utilise, or retire funds appropriately, or that fall short of enrolment and academic performance thresholds, risk being delisted,” he warned.
Echono noted that the goal of the new measures was not to punish, but to enhance the credibility and impact of TETFund. He said: “This policy is not meant to punish, but to safeguard the credibility and impact of TETFund interventions. We want to ensure that the agency’s resources are directed towards institutions committed to high standards of governance, transparency and accountability.”
