The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has commended the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam, Anambra State, for standing out among others in the utilisation of funds made available by the body to universities for the provision of infrastructures for teaching, learning and research.

The Executive Secretary of the Fund, Dr. Abdulahi Baffa Bichi, who made the commendation during an awareness seminar organised by TETFUND at the Igbariam campus of the university weekend observed that the

University has the biggest faculties of engineering and pharmaceutical sciences in Nigeria.

He hailed the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Fidelis Okafor, and the entire management for ploughing monies made available by TETFUND for infrastructural development of the school into tangible and enviable projects.

Bichi added: “Today, TETFUND has confirmed that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in Anambra State has the biggest faculties of engineering and pharmaceutical sciences in Nigeria. The faculty of engineering that trails behind the one built by Ojukwu University is the one at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State.

“Ojukwu University, being a state-owned institution, gets less fund from TETFUND compared to many other universities, but I was marveled seeing the faculties of engineering and that of pharmaceutical sciences at Uli and Igbariam campuses of the university respectively; so, the university has achieved much with less.”

While saying that TETFUND was encouraged by the feat; he said that TETFUND will not relent in its statutory duty of providing funds for tertiary institutions for infrastructural development, research and manpower development.

Earlier in his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Okafor, said that TETFUND had intervened in many aspects of the lives of many universities in Nigeria, adding that the institution as well as many academic staff have benefitted in the training fund.

According to him, many of the university's academic staff were still in Japan, Australia and in some other high-ranking institutions across the globe, on research and training through TETFUND intervention.

The Vice Chancellor noted with satisfaction that TETFUND has been the life-wire of the nation’s tertiary institutions, especially the universities.

He mentioned laudable projects funded by TETFUND in the institution to include the pharmaceutical science and engineering complexes, faculty of agriculture, two laboratories, centre for entrepreneurships, among others.

Okafor however harped on the need for state governments to rise to the challenge of funding their universities adequately and not to leave them for TETFUND alone.

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