By The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced that the government will be setting up Lagos State Tertiary Education Trust Fund, in a move that will creatively revolutionise the model for the funding of tertiary education in the country.
The autonomous funding mechanism is said to instituted to keep all the three Lagos State’s tertiary institutions on the path of sustainability.
Sanwo-Olu made the announcement when he received members of the visitation panel to the Lagos State University (LASU) led by the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Abdulrahman Bello, at the State House, Marina, on Thursday.
The panel, set up in November 2021, turned in a 322-page recommendations for the Governor’s implementation towards meeting the university’s contemporary needs in academic growth and physical development.
Sanwo-Olu said the need to create an independent funding channels for the state’s tertiary institutions became pertinent, given the nature of disputes characterising the national university system which had led to the perennial staff strikes and closure of campuses across the country.
Although none of the three tertiary institutions in Lagos is taking part in the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the governor said the Fund would be a pragmatic strategy to meet the schools’ requirements.
He directed the Attorney General, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, and the Special Adviser on Education, Hon. Tokunbo Wahab, to fashion out the statutory framework that will give legal approval to the Fund.
Sanwo-Olu added that the Trust Fund would create an additional funding source to the three universities, aside the monthly subventions and intervention funds from federal education agencies, including Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
