The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has strongly cautioned the National Assembly and the National Economic Council against passing the proposed tax reform bill, which could effectively dismantle the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Speaking at Bayero University, Kano, on Wednesday, ASUU’s Zonal Coordinator for the Kano Zone, Professor Abdulkadir Muhammad, emphasized the union’s commitment to safeguarding TETFund. “TETFund has been the most effective agency in providing support to the education sector. Its achievements far exceed those of the annual budgets, which have consistently fallen short of addressing the sector’s critical needs,” he said.
Professor Muhammad expressed concerns about the bill, officially titled Nigeria Tax Bill 2024 and Its Consequences on TETFund: Killing the Brainchild of ASUU. He warned that passing this legislation could lead to the collapse of Nigeria’s higher education system.
Under the proposed bill, TETFund’s allocation from the development levy would be reduced incrementally from 2025, completely phasing out by 2030. This, according to Muhammad, would undo decades of progress in the education sector.
Tracing the history of TETFund, he explained how ASUU’s advocacy led to the establishment of the Education Trust Fund in 1993, later renamed TETFund in 2011. He stressed the critical role the fund has played in keeping public universities afloat amidst chronic underfunding.
“The ASUU-Kano zone has resolved to actively oppose any attempts to dismantle this essential fund, which has been vital in preventing the collapse of Nigeria’s university system. The current covert move to abolish TETFund is both unpopular and destructive, and it threatens the survival of public education in Nigeria,” he declared.
He urged the National Assembly and National Economic Council to exercise their constitutional powers to halt the bill. Additionally, he called on Nigerians and other stakeholders to pressure the federal government to abandon the proposal.
ASUU warns that without TETFund, the country’s universities could face a dire future, potentially reversing years of progress and leaving public education in crisis.
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