The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) is intensifying efforts to transform Nigeria’s tertiary education system through massive investments in infrastructure, digital technology, and modern learning facilities, with the aim of creating institutions capable of producing globally competitive graduates.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono, disclosed this at the commissioning of the N1 billion ICT Digital Experience Centre at the University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), Calabar, where he outlined the Fund’s plan to replicate the facility across its beneficiary institutions.
Echono said the intervention was part of TETFund’s broader strategy to provide students and lecturers with the infrastructure and technological tools required to thrive in a rapidly changing global economy.
According to him, the ICT Experience Centre model would not be limited to the pilot institutions, as the Fund intends to ensure that every beneficiary institution eventually has a similar facility.
“We intend to cascade it to every institution. Every institution that is a beneficiary must have a centre like this on campus,” he said.
The UNICROSS centre, commissioned by Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is one of six pilot ICT Experience Centres established by TETFund under its 2024 intervention programme, with each geopolitical zone allocated a facility at a cost of N1 billion.
Echono explained that the centres were designed to address some of the major challenges confronting students, particularly inadequate access to computers, internet connectivity, and reliable electricity.
He said the facilities would provide students with free access to computers, digital resources, and high-speed internet, eliminating some of the barriers that prevent students from fully participating in digital learning and research.
“It’s Wi-Fi based. You just come in here, you can connect, and even the use of the facilities is at zero cost to them,” Echono told journalists.
He added that students who could not afford personal computers would be able to use the centres for their academic activities, including assignments, research, and online learning.
“On every campus, you will have a facility like this, an ICT centre where not only will you have the computers and the other digital resources, but you will also have 24-hour electricity supply and 24-hour internet connectivity,” he said.
Beyond providing access to computers and the internet, Echono said the centres would serve as platforms for students to acquire practical digital skills and participate in the emerging global digital economy.
He explained that students would be exposed to areas such as software development, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, data analysis, graphic design, and other technology-driven skills that could improve their employability and create opportunities for remote work and entrepreneurship.
The TETFund boss said the intervention was particularly important at a time when technology was transforming virtually every sector of the economy.
He noted that tertiary institutions must therefore move beyond conventional classroom teaching and provide students with the infrastructure required to research, innovate, collaborate, and develop solutions to real-world problems.
The intervention, according to Echono, is part of a wider effort to reposition tertiary institutions as centres of innovation and human capital development rather than merely places for obtaining academic qualifications.
The TETFund Executive Secretary said infrastructure remained critical to achieving quality tertiary education, stressing that modern teaching and learning could not take place effectively without adequate physical and digital facilities.
The Fund has therefore continued to support beneficiary institutions with interventions covering classrooms, laboratories, libraries, lecture theatres, hostels, research facilities, and ICT infrastructure.
The six pilot ICT Experience Centres are located at Ekiti State University, Kaduna State University, Kwara State University, Taraba State University, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, and the University of Cross River State.
While Ekiti State University has already commissioned its centre and UNICROSS has now followed, Echono said the expansion programme was gathering momentum.
He disclosed that another 15 centres were expected to be completed before the end of January 2027, while work was ongoing on about 50 additional facilities involving the construction of new centres or upgrading of existing ICT facilities.
“All in all, we are talking about at least 63, or even more, of these facilities in the next couple of months,” Echono said.
The expansion is coming against the backdrop of TETFund’s 2026 intervention covering 271 beneficiary institutions across Nigeria’s universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
Echono said the ultimate objective was to ensure that students, regardless of their economic background, could have access to the digital infrastructure required for modern education.
The initiative, he stressed, was not simply about constructing buildings or installing computers but about changing the learning experience of students and strengthening the capacity of tertiary institutions to prepare young Nigerians for the future.
With free internet connectivity, reliable electricity, and access to modern digital tools, students without personal computers would be able to conduct research, complete assignments, participate in online courses, and develop practical skills without having to depend entirely on commercial cybercafés or expensive mobile data.
The TETFund intervention also aligns with the growing demand for graduates with practical technology skills capable of competing for opportunities beyond the traditional Nigerian job market.
Echono said the centres could provide a pathway for students to develop competencies that would enable them to work remotely, establish businesses, and participate in the global digital economy.
The intervention, according to him, represents a shift in the Fund’s infrastructure strategy—from providing conventional physical facilities to building an integrated educational environment in which physical infrastructure, digital connectivity, and skills development reinforce one another.
The TETFund boss further emphasised the impact of the facilities on students and institutions, saying the ICT Experience Centres would become important hubs for research, innovation, digital skills development, and entrepreneurship across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
