Only 4 Of 68 Federal Universities Exploit Alternative Funding, Alausa Reveals

Only four of Nigeria’s 68 federal universities are making meaningful use of alternative funding opportunities, the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has revealed.

Alausa disclosed this at the National Advancement Forum 2026, where he challenged Vice-Chancellors to urgently diversify their institutions’ sources of income.

He said universities could no longer depend largely on government allocations if they wanted to sustain growth, research and academic excellence.

The minister identified research grants, endowments, alumni giving, philanthropy and industry partnerships as major opportunities that universities should pursue.

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

He urged Vice-Chancellors to take resource mobilisation more seriously and make it a core responsibility of university leadership.

According to him, university leaders in advanced education systems actively engage prominent individuals, alumni, businesses and research funders to secure additional resources.

Alausa said Nigerian universities must adopt a similar approach by using their intellectual capital to attract funding for laboratories, scholarships, research chairs and innovation programmes.

He stressed that the push for alternative funding did not amount to a withdrawal of government support.

The minister said the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had demonstrated strong commitment to education through budgetary allocations, infrastructure spending and other interventions.

He noted that the Federal Government currently pays personnel costs in full, while universities retain 75 per cent of their internally generated revenue.

The institutions also benefit from direct and special interventions through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, he added.

Alausa said these measures provide a strong foundation for universities to develop sustainable funding streams of their own.

To improve resource mobilisation, he directed all university Advancement Offices to report directly to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor rather than the Registrar.

He also directed Vice-Chancellors to give Directors of Advancement a minimum internal tenure of five years, renewable where appropriate.

The minister said the arrangement would give advancement officers enough time to build relationships with donors, alumni, industries and other funding partners.

“Advancement Office operation is a professional job,” he said, stressing that advancement officers require stability, institutional backing and the confidence of university management.

Alausa also called on universities to strengthen their alumni networks through functional databases and technology-driven engagement.

He said effective alumni systems could help institutions maintain lifelong relationships with graduates and turn them into long-term partners in university development.

The minister further disclosed that the Federal Government had created greater flexibility for the management of research and endowment funds.

He said some such funds had previously moved into the Treasury Single Account, creating challenges around access and affecting confidence in their management.

According to him, President Tinubu subsequently directed the development of a framework allowing research and endowment accounts to move to commercial banks of choice.

“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,” Alausa told the Vice-Chancellors.

He warned that institutions that fail to diversify their funding could limit their capacity for sustained development, research and academic excellence.

Alausa said the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation, would develop a national framework for sustainable financing of tertiary institutions.

The framework will cover endowment governance, research grants, alumni giving, industry partnerships, philanthropy, revenue management, accountability and transparency.

He said public universities would progressively join the framework, with each institution expected to build an endowment, establish effective advancement structures and strengthen its research funding capacity.

The minister said accountability would remain central to the initiative because donors, alumni and other funding partners needed confidence in how institutions manage resources.

He said the goal was not to replace government funding but to build diversified and resilient financing systems that complement public support.

Alausa therefore urged Vice-Chancellors to seize the opportunities available under the current policy environment and make resource mobilisation a central part of university administration.