Fakoyejo OlalekanGovernment has earmarked over N470 billion in the 2023 budget as ‘special fund’ to revitalise Nigerian universities, as schools resume lectures after eight months of strike.
The special fund will also be deployed in the planned upward review of lecturers’ salaries. This comes after Prime Business Africa reported that N230.9 billion had been allocated for 14 Nigerian universities in the 2023 budget.
Breakdown of the special fund indicates that university revitalisation will gulp N300 billion, while lecturers’ salaries review will take as much as N170 billion.
This was made known by the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, October 19, where she said Russia-Ukraine war, COVID-19 pandemic and other international challenges were considered in drafting the 2023 budget.
The 2023 budget will gulp N20.5 trillion. The Federal Government will borrow N8.80 trillion from domestic and foreign creditors to finance the N10.78 trillion deficit in the budget.
According to the minister of finance, a total sum of N2.05 trillion is allocated to education. Part of the fund will go to University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which will receive N29.3 billion.
Ahmadu Bello University was allocated N25.8 billion, University of Lagos got N22.3 billion, University of Calabar will receive N21.5 billion, University of Ibadan got N19.2 billion, University of Benin N19.5 billion, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, N18.3 billion, and University of Ilorin N18.1 billion.
Also, Obafemi Awolowo University received an allocation of about N16.3 billion, and University of Jos N14.2 billion.
Others are Federal University of Technology, Owerri, which got N14.3 billion, FUT Akure N8.4 billion and Minna will receive N7.2 billion, Nigeria Open University (NOUN) got N10.7 billion.
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