National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Alhassan Yahya, has called for a strategic partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to support education in Nigeria.
He made the call while leading a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, in Abuja.
He commended the agency for its role in revitalising tertiary institutions across Nigeria, pledging deeper collaboration to strengthen public awareness of education sector interventions.
The president said that “the union had consistently monitored the agency’s activities and was satisfied with the execution of projects in institutions nationwide.
“This visit is aimed at strengthening institutional partnership and exploring ways both organizations could work together to advance national development through improved education outcomes and informed public engagement,” he added
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The NUJ president appreciated the Executive Secretary of TETFund for what he described as a commendable performance in the implementation of intervention programmes across the country.
Yahya proposed a joint inspection tour of selected tertiary institutions across the six geopolitical zones to assess projects executed by TETFund and showcase their impact.
He explained that the proposed tour would involve visits to selected states in each zone, allowing journalists to independently observe interventions and communicate their significance to the public.
The NUJ president said the proposed collaboration would also include joint public sensitisation on ongoing projects, adding that broader public awareness would help Nigerians appreciate the scale of work being carried out in tertiary institutions.
He further appealed for support for the International Institute of Journalism (IIJ), an NUJ-owned training institution dedicated to strengthening professional standards and improving the quality of journalism practice in Nigeria.
He additionally sought TETFund’s support for the NUJ’s planned 2026 media summit in Abuja, which he said would bring together members of the academia, policymakers, and other stakeholders to deliberate on issues of education funding and national security as they relate to the development of the education sector.
Responding, the Executive Secretary of the TETFund, Sonny Echono, said Nigeria’s tertiary education system requires sustained investment, public trust, and stronger institutional support to overcome infrastructure and research gaps.
He stressed that the agency was established to halt the decline in academic standards and restore confidence in the nation’s universities and other higher institutions.
Echono explained that the intervention agency emerged from widespread concern over what stakeholders at the time regarded as a serious deterioration in academic quality across the tertiary education system.
He identified deficiencies in physical infrastructure, research facilities, and the general conditions under which teaching, learning, and research take place as areas that continue to require significant investment.
