The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Alausa, on Wednesday, announced the release of N50 billion by the Federal Government to the academic and non-academic staff unions of federal universities for the settlement of earned allowances, as promised by President Bola Tinubu.

This  was disclosed in a statement titled “FG Releases N50bn Earned Allowances to Varsity Unions, Tinubu Reaffirms Education Priority”, issued by Folasade Boriowo, Director of Press at the Federal Ministry of Education.

Boriowo stated that the move “stands as yet another testament to Tinubu’s unwavering commitment to fundamentally transform Nigeria’s education sector. It reflects the administration’s bold resolve to transition the nation from a resource-based to a knowledge-based economy through strategic investments in education, infrastructure, and human capital.”

According to the Minister, “This intervention is not just a financial transaction—it is a reaffirmation of our President’s belief in the capacity of Nigerian youth and the invaluable role that academic and non-academic staff play in nurturing them.

“By prioritising their welfare, we are laying the foundation for a future where every Nigerian child receives highly qualitative and globally competitive education.”

The Minister expressed President Tinubu’s heartfelt appreciation to both academic and non-academic unions for their sustained trust in his administration and for fostering an atmosphere of peace and cooperation across Nigeria’s federal institutions.

“Notably, the country is currently experiencing one of the longest uninterrupted academic sessions in recent history—a feat attributed to the mutual understanding and shared commitment between the government and the university community,” the statement added.

The President reiterated: “The youth are the heartbeat of our country. Their future is extremely important to me and my administration. Keeping our children in school is not negotiable. It is my commitment that strikes
in our institutions will soon become a thing of the past.”

Recall that university-based academic unions have been at loggerheads with past governments over the failure to release earned allowances, among other demands.

Maduka University, located in Ekwegbe, Enugu State, has successfully upheld the standards it established in 2024, as evidenced by the matriculation of 664 students during its second Matriculation ceremony held on Friday, April 11, 2025.

In the previous academic session of 2023/2024, Maduka University set a remarkable precedent by matriculating over 600 students, marking a first for a new private university in Nigeria.

At the ceremony, held in the university’s stadium, the Chancellor and Founder, Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi, stated: “Maduka University remains a highpoint of the pact I made with God on the occasion of my 50th birthday to alter my society significantly and in a positive way…”

L-R: President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Azuka-Mbata; the Chancellor and Founder, Dr. Samuel Maduka Onyishi and Wife

Dr. Onyishi elaborated that in alignment with their motto, ‘…The place for the transformation you seek’, all courses offered at the university “explore the realities of training deficits in our educational institutions. These realities fuel our enthusiasm and commitment in joining other well-intentioned individuals and groups to think through the processes of creating value-based education. Incidentally, this is the type of education that rides on the wings of entrepreneurship, which is our focus.”

Expressing his pride in the university’s reception from students, parents, and the wider community, Dr. Onyishi acknowledged the growth rate as a reflection of their commitment to quality education.

In a message of congratulations to the new students, he wished them success in their academic endeavours and extended gratitude to the parents, sponsors, and partners for their faith in the institution.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Charles Ogbulogo, emphasised their “intentional” approach to providing learner-centric perspectives in their programmes and lectures to meet students’ needs and aspirations, stating: “We engage quality teachers with rich enthusiastic, interactive and transformative learning experiences.”

Prof. Ogbulogo further highlighted that their courses across the College of Medicine and six schools of health sciences, nursing, pharmacy, law, business and social sciences, engineering, and computing “have continued to enjoy the kind consideration of the National Universities Commission,” adding, “We have never commenced any programme without due authorisation.”

He continued, asserting that the university “would easily qualify as one of the fastest growing private universities in Nigeria. It is gratifying that in our first one year and five months, we have been blessed with close to 1300 students. These figures testify to the acceptance of our brand of education at the tertiary level.”

In a lecture he delivered at the Matriculation ceremony,, Chief John-Nnia Nwodo, the former President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, commended the Chancellor and his team for the “unprecedented speed, with which you have driven the development of this university,” adding that “the speed with which this development was accomplished is phenomenal.”

Expressing concern over the declining quality of education in the country, Chief Nwodo lamented: “It pains me that children of our contemporaries in the university cannot get the quality education that we received during our time.”

He recalled his experiences at the University of Ibadan, noting that “the taps ran 24 hours and showers had cold and hot taps. They ran all day and night,” adding that there was an air-conditioned room in the hostel for entertaining guests with refreshments.

He further recalled that the university laundry washed ten items of clothing for each student every week, with subsidised food prices: “Breakfast was 20 kobo, lunch and dinner were 25 kobo, respectively.”

Chief Nwodo also reminisced about the university’s transport system, stating, “The university buses left from the Main Campus to the Teaching Hospital Campus every 30 minutes, carrying students and staff members who had lectures.”

He added that they had “departmental libraries as well as a Central Library,” where any book published in Europe or America was available within a month of publication, and that “we hardly experienced any power failure in the three years I spent in Ibadan.”

He concluded by saying, “It pains me so much that you, as our children, cannot get the quality of education we, your parents, got, but those of you in Maduka University are privileged. You have good buildings, power and water supply, and lecturers hungry and anxious to teach in an institution with facilities.”

In their goodwill messages, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, represented by the Commissioner for Environment; the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief John Azuka-Mbata; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sen. Mohammed Daggash; and a representative of the JAMB Registrar all congratulated the students and urged them to remain focused and pursue academic excellence by taking their lectures seriously.

The Management of Enugu State College of Education (Technical), ESCET, has dismissed as totally false claims by some disengaged staff of the college that they were unjustly denied access to TETFUND scholarship.

The institution said TETFUND sponsored scholarships were meant for staff of the beneficiary institution and not those who had been disengaged.

The TETFUND scholarship is a federal government initiative aimed at promoting academic excellence in tertiary institutions. The fund is disbursed to beneficiary institutions, which are responsible for selecting and supporting eligible staff members pursuing postgraduate studies.

But some disengaged staff of the college who are no longer on the payroll of the college have continued to insist that they were entitled to the  scholarship fund even after they were laid off.

The ESCET management in a statement by its  Public Relations Officer, Comrade Chinwe Ani, at the weekend, however, dismissed the misinformation circulating on social media regarding the disbursement of TETFUND scholarship to certain individuals who were disengaged from the institution.

The statement reads in part: “The affected individuals were among the 94 College Staff who were disengaged following the directive by the Enugu State Government due to the fact that their employment was not duly approved by the government when they were engaged by the previous management, as discovered by the seven- member investigative Committee set up by the State Government to examine allegations of mismanagement and corrupt practices within the College.

“There is no credible evidence to support claims that the government intend to replace them with preferred individuals. The primary issue was lack of proper authorization in the hiring process.

“As a result of their disengagement, they are no longer on the College payroll which makes it administratively difficult to facilitate their access to TETFUND sponsored scholarship.

”It is important to emphasize that TETFUND intervention is specifically designed to support staff members who are duly recognized and currently serving in beneficiary institutions. Since these individuals are no longer part of the College’s workforce, they do not meet the eligibility criteria to access the scholarship.”

The statement urged the general public “to disregard any misleading report by some enemies of the College trying to destroy the good image of the institution or portray the government of Enugu State in bad light.”

“Enugu State College of Education Technical still remains committed to ensuring that all eligible staff members benefit from such intervention in line with TETFUND  guidelines and government policies,” the college assured, while advising those who need further clarification on the issue to reach out to the college through its official channels.