Sonny Echono, executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), has proposed the implementation of tuition fees at federal universities for sustainability. 

Echono spoke in Abuja during an education sector conference themed: ‘Funding for Tertiary Education in Nigeria’. Federal universities have long maintained a tuition-free policy, guaranteeing tertiary education for the wards of low-income Nigerians.

They receive funding from the government in the form of annual budgetary allocations for salaries, capital expenditure, and running costs. Echono said the federal government should no longer be the only funding source of higher education in the country.

He said the inability of the government to solely finance tertiary education necessitates that the institutions be given the leverage to explore alternative funding. “It is worth repeating that considering the circumstances surrounding the funding of higher education in Nigeria today, the government alone cannot be the sole source of financing for education,” Echono said.

“Cost-sharing, to enable parents and the students who are primary beneficiaries to contribute to the funding of the system through the payment of tuition fees, to complement government subvention to the institution. It is also instructive to state that some institutions owned by state governments have already started implementing this initiative.”

Echono advocated for the implementation of the student loan scheme. “The interest-free loan with a moratorium will provide an avenue for a growing number of students to access loans at affordable rates to pay their fees and support their education."

“The significance of the student loan scheme, which targets the primary beneficiary of education, is that it shifts the burden of payment by the student to after graduation when the graduate is able to earn and repay the loan.”

He added that tertiary institutions should explore partnerships and collaborations with funding agencies and development partners — locally and internationally — to attract support and resources.