TETFund intervention in Benue Varsity now N7bn — Pro-Chancellor

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has committed N7 billion to Benue State University (BSU) through various intervention projects from 1999 to date.

Chairman of the Governing Council and Pro-Chancellor of the institution, Sebastine Hon (SAN), stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, when he led management of the institution on a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc. Sonny Echono.

The Pro-Chancellor, while expressing delight over the various TETFund projects that now dotted the university’s campus, appealed for the speedy completion of other ongoing projects.

“Our campus is dominated with TETFund-sponsored legacy structures including the central library, laboratories, lecture theatres, faculty buildings, student social centre, and entrepreneurship development centre, not excluding research (IBR, NRF, ARJ, AMB), academic training and conferences (foreign and local), post-doctoral, Bench work and developments in ICT.

“In all, the university has received about N7 bn (N7,000,000,000.00) in intervention from TETFund between 1999 and now.”

He said COVID-19 lockdown affected the speed and cost of the projects and called for a waiver to access the 2021/2022 TETFund’s allocations to enable the university address its challenges as well as make special intervention on the institution’s library that was recently touched by heavy storm.

Responding, Echono commended BSU for its massive contribution towards the production of relevant manpower in the country, saying the university was first to be established in the entire northern part of Nigeria by state government.

On the appeal for completion of all ongoing projects in the university, Echono said, “I have earlier given the directive that as a matter of policy, we have undertaken a comprehensive review of all of our outstanding projects with a view to bringing those that are close to completion to speedy completion through the various strategies we have identified.”