A bill seeking to amend the TETFUND Act 2011 by the lawmaker representing Akoko North East/North West Federal Constituency, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo at the Federal House of Representatives on Wednesday passed first reading.
Hon. TUNJI-OJO proposed the amendment of the TETFUND Act 2011 to widen access to the country’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to include Federal Colleges of Agriculture in Nigeria as beneficiaries.
Starnews Nigeria reports that the fund is currently responsible for managing and disbursing the education tax to public tertiary institutions to support the infrastructure and education needs of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Beneficiaries of TETFUND are presently limited to public Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education while agitations by Colleges of Agriculture to come on board had been fruitless in the time past.
If the bill succeeds, the long time agitations by the Federal Colleges of Agriculture in Nigeria to benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) will become a reality.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Federal Lawmaker on New Media, Babatunde Alao said the bill was inspired by the need to restore the nation’s past glory in the area of agriculture by giving special attention to agriculture-based institutions.
“Years back Malaysian government came to Nigeria, took a seed of palm kernel back home and this has brought them exceeding economic beauty.
“Before the oil boom in the 1970s, agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. It contributed over 90% of the country’s GDP. Each region of the country was known for particular agricultural produce.
“If we are to restore the past glory, special attention must be paid to agriculture-based institutions. One way to achieve this is the inclusion of all colleges of education in TETFUND. This is the main aim of this bill”, the statement said.
Similar, Starnews Nigeria gathered that the Federal Lawmaker also presented another bill for an Act to amend the Minerals and Mining Act 1999 to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through a well-articulated and coordinated incentive to prospective investors.
“The bill has also scaled through the first reading on Wednesday at the floor of the House of Republic.
“Nigeria is blessed with abundant solid minerals which must be aggressively explored and exploited to reignite the manufacturing industry and create jobs for youths.”
“The need therefore to attract foreign direct investment in this subsector cannot be over-emphasised.”
“This bill seeks among other things to encourage local and foreign investment in this subsector by amending the above sections of the Act that may be a hindrance or disincentive to the achievement of this purpose.”
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