The visit of the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, to the management team of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) may have come and gone but its memories will linger for a long time to come.
  
The August visit provided opportunity to Governor Radda and the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, to share their thoughts on burning national issues including security and the controversy over the decision of the House of Representatives to ‘halt’ the N683 billion 2024 TETFund intervention projects, among others.
  
On the request by the Governor for the extension of security intervention to beneficiary institutions across the state, Echono wasted no time in assuring his guest that the intervention agency would provide security infrastructure for tertiary institutions across the state.
  
The Executive Secretary also expressed concerns by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that recent violent attacks in North West and North East geopolitical zones had disrupted the learning of more than 1.3 million school children.
  
While calling for multi-sectoral approach to improve school safety, Echono assured that the Fund is taking security seriously as it had created a special intervention line to address issue of security in tertiary institutions’ campuses in the state. 
  
He said: “Katsina is in the eye of problems of insecurity that we face. And I am pleased to let you know that we have already prioritized Katsina for our interventions under security infrastructure. Because Mr President is determined that even in times of crisis, education should be a priority and we must find a way of keeping our children in school.
 
“We are taking security seriously. We take the protection of our students seriously. And that is why we created a special intervention line to address issue of security on our campuses. We have prioritized all the troubled spots. And institutions that we feel have a higher risk factor we are taking multiplicity of measures. We are working towards ensuring that there is power in our campuses, as criminals find solace operating under the cover of darkness.” 
  
Echono revealed that while each university will get the sum of N1.9 billion from the N683 billion for the year, 2024 intervention cycle, each polytechnic will receive N1.1 billion and College of Education to get N1.3 billion each.

Giving a breakdown of the N683,429,268,402 interventions for year, 2024, he said that 90.75 per cent is budgeted for direct disbursement and 8.94 per cent for designated special projects.

  
On the reported ‘halting’ of this year’s intervention projects by the House of Representatives Committee of TETFund and other Services, he explained that he has already met with the leadership of the National Assembly as well as the Committee of Vice Chancellors to resolve the matter, adding “Things are being worked out to facilitate speedy project execution.”

Reacting to the development for the first time, the TETFund boss admitted that while the principle of separation of powers must be respected by all parties, the high rate of volatility in the building materials market is a source of concern, stressing that delay does more harm than good when projects are slowed down.
 
“First, there is the principle of separation of powers. Every arm of government has its role. And that is the beauty of democracy.
 
“My immediate reaction is this: one of the biggest challenges we face today in executing projects and implementing our interventions is the high rate of volatility in the building materials market.
  
“Indeed, we have spent the whole morning racking our brains because when we did the interventions, planning and budgeting for projects to be implemented in 2024 (that was November to early December last year), as an architect, I can tell you some basic indices.

 “Cement was between N4,500 to N4,700, iron rods were about N430,000 (per ton). Today, cement has gone to N7,000 to N8,000 and beyond in some places. Iron rods are going to N700,000 per ton. And every other building material has followed suit. So if you have a project that you are going to start three months ago and you did not start, and you want to start today, you are looking at between 60 to 70 percent increase in cost.

 
“So, the need for speed of execution is absolutely essential, which is what we did emphasize. And I can confirm to you that consultations are ongoing to see how consideration is given to what I call the substance rather than the form. And we will try to see that we get value from the limited resources we have”, he said.
  
Earlier, Governor Radda applauded the federal government for its intervention in tertiary institutions in the state, even as he called for the provision of security infrastructure in tertiary institutions to protect students and staff.  He said the purpose of the visit was to thank the Fund for its interventions across beneficiary institutions in the state.
 
“I keep asking myself: what could our tertiary institutions be without the intervention of TETFund? He asked rhetorically, adding: “We need your kind intervention especially now that we are having some threats to security in some of these institutions.  We need to intensify security around universities by providing security safety nets in those tertiary institutions to make students comfortable.”