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The Chairman of the Governing Council, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Governing Council, Dr Olutoyin Okeowo, has called on the Federal Government to review the list of the beneficiaries of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund by including private universities in the list.
Okeowo said this on Saturday during the opening of the Modupe Okeowo and Abiodun Ayanlaja Senate Building, which he personally financed and donated to ACU and the celebration of his 70th birthday.
He stated that running a university requires considerable resources, saying that ACU’s progress and successes support it received from well-meaning individuals and organisations.
He said, “Private universities, like Ajayi Crowther University, face challenges related to funding, staff remuneration, infrastructure, and academic programmes.
“Unlike public universities, private institutions are not beneficiaries of government funds like those from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). We consider this disparity unfair. The students and their parents, staff and management of private universities are also citizens of this country who have also directly or indirectly paid taxes from which TETFUND is realised.
“We humbly call on the Federal Government to urgently address this by extending the benefit of the fund to private institutions, most especially faith-based Universities like Ajayi Crowther University, that are not profit centers.”
He noted that ACU is on a steady path towards growth, highlighting the university’s commitment to developing innovative and globally relevant programmes.
In his welcome address, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Timothy Adebayo, thanked the Okeowo family, adding that the building would solve the institution’s space needs.
He also congratulated Okeowo on his birthday.
At the event was the Primate of the Church of Nigeria, Henry Ndukuba; Visitor to the University, Most Reverend Dr Joseph Akinfenwa; bishops from various Dioceses of the church; Chairman of the University Board of Trustees, Dr Wole Olanipekun, SAN and former Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunibe Mamora, among others.
