Alausa Reads Riot Act to VCs, Orders Hunt for Funds Beyond Government, Says Only 4 of 68 Federal Universities effectively tapping alternative funding opportunities. By Beauty Akporido Aroh

The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, CON, has issued a strong directive to Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian public universities to abandon overreliance on government allocations and aggressively pursue alternative sources of funding to strengthen their institutions.

Alausa, who spoke at the National Advancement Forum 2026, said only four of the 68 federal universities were currently making meaningful use of alternative funding opportunities such as research grants, endowments, alumni contributions, philanthropy and industry partnerships.

Describing the situation as unacceptable, the Minister charged Vice-Chancellors to make resource mobilisation a central responsibility of university leadership and take full advantage of the opportunities created by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

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

He said university leaders must move beyond merely administering government allocations and actively build relationships with alumni, businesses, philanthropists, prominent individuals, research funders and industry players capable of providing additional resources for institutional development.

According to him, leading universities around the world do not depend solely on public funding, as their Vice-Chancellors actively network with stakeholders to mobilise resources for laboratories, scholarships, research chairs, innovation programmes and other strategic priorities.

Alausa stressed that the Federal Government’s position was not a withdrawal of support for tertiary institutions, noting that the Tinubu administration had demonstrated commitment to education through budgetary allocations, infrastructure investment and other interventions.

He disclosed that 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 direct and special interventions through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund.

These interventions, he said, provide a strong foundation upon which universities must build more diversified, sustainable and resilient financing educational system.

In a major policy directive, the Minister ordered that University Advancement Offices should report directly to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor rather than the Registrar.

He directed Vice-Chancellors present at the forum to immediately communicate the directive to their respective institutions.

Alausa also directed that Directors of Advancement should have a minimum internal tenure of five years, renewable where appropriate, arguing that frequent changes in leadership could undermine the long-term relationships required for successful fundraising.

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

The Minister further challenged universities to take alumni engagement more seriously by developing functional alumni databases and deploying technology to maintain lifelong relationships with graduates in Nigeria and across the globe.

He said alumni should no longer be treated merely as occasional guests at university events but as strategic partners capable of supporting institutional development over the long term.

Alausa recalled that before the present administration, some research and endowment funds had been moved into the Treasury Single Account, TSA, creating difficulties in accessing the funds and undermining confidence in their management.

He said President Tinubu subsequently directed the development of a framework permitting research and endowment accounts to be moved from the TSA to commercial banks of choice, providing greater flexibility and confidence in managing such resources.

The Minister therefore challenged Vice-Chancellors to exploit the policy environment created by the administration.

> “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has met you beyond halfway. He has given you the leverage and the opportunity to do your jobs well. You must now take advantage of it,” he told the university leaders.

He expressed disappointment that many institutions were yet to fully utilise the opportunities available to them, warning that universities that fail to diversify their revenue sources could struggle to sustain growth, research and academic excellence.

Alausa disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation, NHF, would move beyond training and capacity building to develop a comprehensive national framework for sustainable financing of tertiary institutions.

The proposed framework will address endowment governance, research grants, Advancement Office structures, alumni giving, industry partnerships, philanthropy incentives, revenue management, accountability and transparency.

He said all public universities would be progressively brought into the framework, with each institution expected to develop an endowment, establish an effective advancement structure, maintain a functional alumni database, strengthen its research funding capacity and cultivate productive relationships with industry, philanthropists and other strategic partners.

The Minister, however, emphasised that aggressive resource mobilisation must go hand in hand with accountability and transparency.

He said donors, alumni, businesses and research funders would only continue supporting institutions they trust.

Alausa clarified that the new approach was not designed to replace government funding or force universities to rely solely on internally generated revenue, but to create diversified and resilient financing systems that complement government support.

He said the ultimate objective was to build Nigerian universities capable of competing for global research funding, engaging their alumni, attracting philanthropic support and forging productive industry partnerships capable of sustaining academic excellence for generations.