TETFund: Tackling The Menace Of Uncompleted Projects In Tertiary Institutions

Uncompleted projects have remained a major challenge in many of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions, with unfinished lecture theatres, incomplete hostels and delayed academic facilities affecting efforts to improve teaching, learning and research.

Apart from the financial resources tied down in such projects, prolonged delays often prevent students and lecturers from benefiting from facilities intended to expand institutional capacity and improve academic delivery.

The challenge has also raised concerns about the effective use of public funds invested in tertiary education.

For the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), ensuring that approved projects are completed and put to use is as important as providing financial support for their execution.

Although the Fund has committed substantial resources to developing universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, the expected impact can only be achieved when projects are delivered within the approved timeframe and according to the required standards.

To address the growing burden of delayed projects, the Board of Trustees of TETFund has introduced stronger measures aimed at compelling beneficiary institutions to complete outstanding interventions.

Under the new approach, institutions with delayed projects will not be allowed to commence new projects during the 2027 intervention cycle.

The decision shows the Board’s determination to strengthen accountability, improve project supervision and ensure that existing projects are completed before new commitments are approved.

TETFund Director of Public Affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, in a press statement recently, said its Board of Trustees had taken a final stand on the persistent delay in completing approved projects across beneficiary institutions.

The Board warned that institutions with delayed intervention projects would not be allowed to commence new projects during the 2027 allocation cycle unless they demonstrated a commitment to addressing their outstanding obligations.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Hon Aminu Bello Masari, acknowledged that several factors had contributed to delays in the delivery of intervention projects. These include the volatility in the prices of critical building materials such as cement, reinforcement bars, sanitary fittings and electrical components.

The rising cost of construction materials has posed significant challenges to project execution, particularly where the original contract sums were based on prices that later became unsustainable.

In many cases, contractors have struggled to continue work when inflation and market fluctuations substantially increased the cost of materials.

Recognising the impact of these economic realities, TETFund introduced a dedicated intervention line in 2023 to support the completion of affected projects.

The initiative was designed to provide additional funding for projects that had been delayed or distressed due to cost variations and other challenges beyond the initial projections.

According to the Fund, a recent review showed that the intervention had achieved encouraging results, with many affected projects completed following the introduction of the special funding window.

Masari frowned at the continued failure of some beneficiary institutions to adhere to the timelines stipulated for the completion of TETFund-sponsored projects. He identified a lack of continuity in project implementation by successive heads of institutions as one of the factors responsible for the problem.

In some cases, new institutional leaders have reportedly shown a preference for initiating fresh projects rather than completing those started by their predecessors.

Such changes in priorities can disrupt project implementation, create avoidable delays and leave institutions with several unfinished facilities competing for limited resources.

TETFund warned that projects financed through its interventions would not be allowed to suffer because of internal bureaucracy, administrative bottlenecks or politics within beneficiary institutions.

Delays in completing these projects can therefore have direct consequences for students, staff and the wider academic community.

To provide a lasting solution to the recurring problem of distressed projects, the Board approved a number of measures for immediate implementation.

Under the new directive, all beneficiary institutions are required to compile a comprehensive list of projects that have exceeded their planned completion period by more than six months.

For TETFund, the renewed focus on project completion is consistent with its broader responsibility of supporting the development of Nigeria’s public tertiary education system.

The Board’s latest measures therefore place greater emphasis on outcomes rather than the number of projects initiated.

The issue of abandoned projects has remained a recurring challenge in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector, where infrastructure gaps continue to affect teaching, research and learning conditions.

In 2023, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arch Sonny Echono, lamented the growing number of abandoned projects sponsored by the fund across Nigerian higher institutions, warning that the practice was slowing down efforts to improve academic infrastructure.

Echono said several TETFund-supported projects had been left unattended due to changes in leadership at beneficiary institutions, with some new administrators refusing to continue projects initiated by their predecessors.

He described the situation as a waste of resources and a setback to the development of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.