Alausa Tells VCs: Only 4 of 68 Universities Exploit Alternative Funding

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has issued a stern warning to vice-chancellors of Nigeria’s public universities, urging them to aggressively pursue alternative funding sources or risk institutional stagnation.

He revealed that only four of the 68 federal universities are currently making meaningful use of research grants, endowments, alumni donations, and industry partnerships.

A Warning to University Leaders

The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has read the riot act to vice-chancellors of Nigeria’s public universities, warning them to stop relying almost exclusively on government allocations and to aggressively pursue alternative sources of funding.

Alausa, who expressed concern over the poor resource mobilisation capacity of Nigerian universities, revealed that only four of the 68 federal universities were currently making meaningful use of alternative funding opportunities such as research grants, endowments, alumni donations, philanthropy and industry partnerships.

He described the development as unacceptable, charging university leaders to make resource mobilisation a central responsibility of their administrations.

“Government Funding Is Not Enough”

The minister spoke at the National Advancement Forum 2026, where he challenged Vice-Chancellors to move beyond the traditional practice of administering government allocations and begin actively building relationships with alumni, businesses, philanthropists, research funders and other strategic partners.

“Government funding is not enough. Universities live, function and excel on blended funding,” Alausa declared.

According to him, successful universities globally do not depend solely on public funding but deliberately cultivate networks capable of generating resources for laboratories, scholarships, research chairs, innovation programmes and other critical institutional needs.

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Government Support Remains

Alausa stressed that the Federal Government was not withdrawing its support from tertiary institutions, noting that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had demonstrated strong commitment to education through increased budgetary allocations, infrastructure investment and other interventions.

He said the Federal Government currently bears personnel costs in full, while universities retain 75 per cent of their internally generated revenue and continue to benefit from interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

“These provide a strong foundation,” the Minister said, insisting that universities must build on it by developing diversified, sustainable and resilient financing systems.

Major Policy Directives

In a major policy directive aimed at strengthening fundraising capacity, Alausa ordered that Advancement Offices in all universities should report directly to the Vice-Chancellors rather than Registrars.

He directed the Vice-Chancellors to immediately communicate the decision to their respective institutions.

The Minister also directed that Directors of Advancement should have a minimum five-year internal tenure, renewable where appropriate, arguing that frequent changes in leadership could undermine long-term relationships with donors, alumni, industries and philanthropic organisations.

“Advancement Office operation is a professional job,” he said, describing advancement officers as professional fundraisers who require stability, institutional backing and the confidence of university management to deliver results.

Alumni Engagement and TSA Reforms

Alausa further challenged universities to overhaul their alumni engagement systems, directing institutions to develop functional databases and deploy technology to maintain lifelong relationships with graduates within Nigeria and across the globe.

He said a properly managed alumni network could become one of the most dependable sources of long-term institutional support.

The minister also disclosed that the Tinubu administration had addressed a major constraint affecting research and endowment funding by developing a framework that allows such accounts to be moved from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to commercial banks of the institutions’ choice.

He recalled that before the Tinubu administration, some research and endowment funds had been transferred into the TSA, creating difficulties in accessing the funds and raising concerns over their management and utilisation.

A Lesson for Nigeria

The Minister’s warning is a stark reminder that Nigeria’s universities cannot survive on government handouts alone.

With only four out of 68 federal universities making meaningful use of alternative funding, the sector is dangerously exposed to fiscal shocks.

The same politicians who celebrate university graduates will never allow their own children to be educated in institutions that are perpetually underfunded.

For Nigeria, the lesson is clear: the future of higher education depends on institutional autonomy and financial diversification.

The same leaders who talk about knowledge economy must be willing to allow universities to generate and retain their own resources.

Alausa’s directive is a step in the right direction, but the real test will be in its implementation.

Demand accountability. Support university autonomy. And never forget that a nation that underfunds its universities underfunds its future.