Alausa Urges VCs to Diversify University Funding

The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has urged Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian public universities to diversify their funding sources and strengthen their institutions’ Advancement Offices to attract resources beyond government allocations.

Alausa made the call at the National Advancement Forum 2026, where he disclosed that only four of Nigeria’s 68 federal universities are currently making meaningful use of alternative funding opportunities, including research grants, endowments, alumni contributions, philanthropy and industry partnerships.

He described the situation as unacceptable, stressing that government funding alone cannot sustain the country’s universities.

According to him, university leaders must treat resource mobilisation as a core responsibility and embrace blended financing to strengthen their institutions.

The minister noted that the Federal Government fully funds personnel costs, while universities retain 75 per cent of their internally generated revenue and continue to benefit from interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund.

Alausa also directed that Advancement Offices in all universities should report directly to Vice-Chancellors rather than Registrars.

He further said Directors of Advancement should have a minimum five-year tenure, renewable where necessary, to enable them build sustained relationships with alumni, donors, industries and other funding partners.

The minister urged universities to develop functional alumni databases and strengthen engagement with graduates worldwide.

He added that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had created opportunities for universities to manage research and endowment funds more flexibly, urging Vice-Chancellors to take full advantage of the policy environment.

Alausa also announced that the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation, would develop a national framework for sustainable tertiary education financing covering endowments, research grants, alumni giving, philanthropy, industry partnerships, accountability and transparency.

He stressed that the initiative is intended to complement, rather than replace, government funding and ultimately build stronger and more financially sustainable universities.