ABUJA — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the creation of a framework to relocate university endowment and research funds out of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and into commercial banks of the institutions’ choosing.
Speaking at the National Advancement Forum 2026, the Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, explained that the intervention is designed to resolve historical bottlenecks. According to him, prior placement of these capital pools inside the TSA created operational friction, making it difficult for higher education institutions to access and deploy funds effectively.
The policy shift aims to restore administrative confidence and grant universities the financial flexibility required to manage non-governmental resources, research grants, and donor funds.
”President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has met you halfway. He has given you the leverage and the opportunity to do your jobs well. You must now take advantage of it,” Alausa told vice-chancellors present at the event.
Despite these measures, the minister expressed concern that only four out of the country’s 68 federal universities are actively tapping into alternative revenue channels such as alumni networks, philanthropy, industrial partnerships, and competitive grants. He noted that government allocations alone cannot sustain tertiary education, emphasizing that functional universities must thrive on blended financial models.
To institutionalize aggressive resource mobilisation, the minister announced structural reforms across public campuses. Advancement Offices must now report directly to Vice-Chancellors instead of Registrars, and Advancement Directors have been handed a minimum five-year tenure to ensure stability in donor relations.
Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHF), is designing a comprehensive national framework centered on endowment governance, transparency, and sustainable institutional financing.
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