Smart Olugbeko: TETFund now beacon of excellence in public service — major source of running tertiary institutions

Smart Olugbeko, president of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has lauded the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) for its exceptional performance under the leadership of Sonny Echono, its executive secretary.

Olugbeko spoke while addressing a group of Nigerian students from colleges of education who paid a courtesy visit to the COEASU leadership in Abuja.

The students, who represented various institutions across the country, had come to thank the leadership of the union for its role in the federal government’s approval of the dual mandate for colleges of education, which grants colleges of education degree-awarding status.

Ahmed Akande, the spokesperson of the students, commended the COEASU leadership for its efforts in ensuring the realisation of the dual mandate in colleges of education.

However, he also charged the leadership of the union to ensure that the federal government pays students on teaching practice monthly stipends, just like their counterparts in engineering and medicine who receive allowances during industrial attachment or horsemanship.

Olugbeko urged the students to appreciate President Bola Tinubu for signing into law the bill that grants degree-awarding status to colleges of education.

He added that the president’s positive disposition towards payment of the teaching practice stipend to students and lecturers deserved commendation.

Olugbeko noted that the implementation is being worked out by the federal government, while TETFund has been identified as a critical stakeholder in the implementation.

“The involvement of TETFund in the implementation process of the teaching practice stipend is a guarantee of its successful execution,” he said.

“TETFund under the leadership of Arc. Sonny Echono has transformed into a beacon of excellence in public service and the major source of running public tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

“We are proud to associate with the fund. We have every confidence that TETFund will bring its characteristic efficiency and transparency to the process of the implementation of the disbursement of the stipends when the time comes.”