Lagos to Set Up Tertiary Education Trust Fund

The Lagos State Government will establish the State Tertiary Education Trust Fund to create a financial model that will sustain its universities, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Thursday.

He spoke when the Visitation Panel to the Lagos State University (LASU) presented its report to him at the State House in Marina.

Sanwo-Olu said the panel, set up on November 16, 2021, was set up to ensure the university management remains focused on performance and has a clean bill on where and what to do.

Establishing a tertiary education trust fund was part of the recommendations in the panel’s report, especially since the state now has three universities to cater for.

The Governor said there was a need to establish the trust fund to enable the university management stay focused and help the government leave a good legacy in the education sector.

He directed his Special Adviser on Education Tokunbo Wahab, and Commissioner for Justice Moyosore Onigbanjo, to work out modalities on the establishment of the fund.

The Governor also promised to set up a panel, within seven days, to review and diagnose the recommendations for the future and posterity’s sake.

He said: “I can assure you that your 322-page report will be attended to. A panel will be constituted in seven days to review the recommendations and present to the government for implementation. Lagos can continue to set the benchmark and beacon of hope in Nigeria.”

Governor Sanwo-Olu also appealed to the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve their impasse so students can return to their campuses.

According to him, there are bound to be issues but the Lagos model where issues are resolved before degenerating into full strike can be copied.

Chairman of the Visitation Panel Prof. Abdulrahman Bello said the panel received 40 memoranda from the public, including submissions from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) which contained 35 and 23 separate issues, for consideration.