President Muhammadu Buhari has approved N7.5bn research grant for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund’s National Research Fund for this year. The amount was increased from the initial N3bn.
The Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, who disclosed this at the 2020 TETFund Board of Trustees Retreat in Abuja on Wednesday, said the latest approval made the agency the largest holder of research grants in the country.
Bogoro further disclosed that Buhari also approved the establishment of six medical simulation research and clinical training facilities in six colleges of medicine in each geopolitical zone within the year.
He noted that the approval provided TETFundopportunity to provide 12 Coronavirus Disease and related infectious disease molecular laboratories, two in each geopolitical zone, making the fund the highest single provider of COVID-19 test centres in Nigeria.
He also disclosed that the BoT of TETFund approved over N200m for some COVID-19 research proposals mainly from universities and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
While laying out the agenda of the fund, the TETFund boss noted that approval had been made from the 2020 budget for TETFund to aggressively commit funds to reverse the embarrassing situation of hostel accommodation in tertiary institutions and make learning environment more attractive for local and foreign students.
