In a powerful, timely address in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Mr. Sonny Echono, delivered a clear message to university vice-chancellors, polytechnic rectors, and college principals alike: enough with the hesitation—our day-to-day operations, teaching, research, and administration must pivot decisively towards technology and innovation.
Echono’s appeal was made during a sensitisation and awareness workshop on the Blackboard-TERAS platform—an integrated digital solution designed to elevate Nigerian tertiary institutions onto the global stage. He described this move as critical for competitiveness and future-proofing Nigerian higher education, aligning with best practices seen worldwide.
At the heart of his plea was a frustration with resistance from many institutions. Despite TETFund’s considerable investment in digital infrastructure, including TERAS and Blackboard, a number of institutions remain stuck in traditional, analogue methods. Some are still submitting physical paperwork to TETFund, even after being formally instructed to transition to electronic submissions. Mr Echono didn’t mince words—this inertia is tantamount to wasting billions of naira in investments.
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Digital Tools: Not Just Useful, but Essential
Echono made an emphatic case that technology is more than a convenience—it is the only viable channel for expanding access to quality tertiary education in a nation with booming youth populations and shrinking physical infrastructure. He pointed out that with just a smartphone, students should be able to log on, access lectures, participate in assignments, and acquire essential skills beyond the confines of traditional classrooms.
He recalled how, during the COVID-19 lockdown, TETFund partnered with state governments, the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), and radio broadcasters to deliver WAEC syllabus-based lessons via broadcast platforms. The result? One of Nigeria’s best WAEC results in years—a vivid testament to how well-applied technology can transform learning outcomes.
Beyond teaching, Echono stressed that data-driven planning and open knowledge-sharing—hallmarks of the most esteemed global education systems—must become standard practice in Nigerian institutions. Digital tools offer not just convenience, but also the analytics and transparency needed to steer education policy and institutional strategy with precision.
A Sharper Global Lens: Closing the Competitiveness Gap
The global education competitiveness scorecards don’t flatter Nigeria. According to Echono, the nation currently ranks 189th worldwide and 25th within Africa—a sobering position that trails behind much smaller, tech-savvy nations such as Rwanda and Mauritius. These countries have leveraged ICT to modernise their systems, and Nigeria risks being left behind if tertiary institutions fail to act.
Echono sounded a cautionary note: while the government has laid the groundwork by providing infrastructure, failure to use it amounts to pure waste. He warned that billions of naira are hanging in the balance unless institutions act with urgency.
In urging institutional leaders—vice-chancellors, registrars, ICT directors, academic heads—to become champions of digital adoption, he announced that going forward, the majority of TETFund’s investments will prioritise ICT over physical infrastructure. A digital-first future is not just ideal—it’s imminent.
He went further to contextualise the broader impact: Nigeria’s underdevelopment in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and oil can also be traced to a lack of technological adoption. By contrast, China’s meteoric rise was fuelled by deliberate investments in knowledge and innovation. He affirmed that Nigeria can replicate that trajectory—starting with fundamental reform in its education system, the building block of national development.
From Strategy to Execution: What Comes Next?
The workshop—held in Abuja and slated to roll out across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones—was more than a talk shop. It was designed to equip senior administrators (registrars, bursars, heads of academic planning, ICT managers, and thesis repository custodians) with the skills and understanding necessary to operate the TERAS platform and Blackboard tools effectively.
Joseph Odo, TETFund’s Director of ICT, outlined the initiative as a collaborative engagement aimed at strengthening institutional capacity. His hope is that with active participation, data-aggregation for strategic planning, enriched teaching, improved research outcomes, and broader collaboration will become hallmarks of Nigeria’s tertiary education landscape.
Echono also urged institutions to not only fully onboard staff and students onto TERAS but also to populate their institutional websites with up-to-date, relevant information—calling current websites “embarrassingly outdated” in many cases and imploring urgent upgrades.
As a parting emphasis, he suggested that the new generation of digital platforms should become embedded in everyday academic life—a shift in culture as much as in tools—transforming digital infrastructure from an optional utility into an educational lifestyle.
Conclusion
In this inspiring and urgent message, Mr. Sonny Echono has laid out a bold vision: Nigerian tertiary institutions must fully integrate technology—through platforms like TERAS and Blackboard, supported by digital infrastructure, updated websites, and data systems—to secure global competitiveness, accommodate a growing student population, and discipline wasteful spending.
The critical path forward is clear:
- End resistance and legacy analogue practices.
- Make digital tools central to teaching, learning, research, and administration.
- Recognise the link between technology, global rankings, and national development.
- Empower institutional leaders to lead the digital transformation.
- Build a culture where technology is not an add-on—but the foundation of tertiary education.
This transformation will not only sharpen Nigeria’s educational edge—it will shape its future.
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