The Federal Government has earmarked N250 billion for the construction of hostels in tertiary institutions across the country, Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has said.
The minister, who spoke at the soil-turning ceremony of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund)/Public Private Partnership hostel development intervention project held at Lagos State University (LASU) and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), said the present administration is focused on the education and empowerment of youths, which informed the political and financial commitment to invest in student accommodation.
The project is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) involving TETFund and private investors. It is structured on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
The intervention is designed to expand and improve student accommodation facilities in both institutions.
Giving a breakdown of the N250 billion allocation, Alausa said: ‘We are spending N100 billion, N2 billion each to build 500 spaces of student hostels in over 50 tertiary institutions. We’re also building 24 PPP hostels with a capacity of at least 1,200 to 1,500 bed spaces across 24 tertiary institutions in the country of which LASU and YABATECH are beneficiaries’.
According to Alausa, while TETFund will bring N1 billion, the private investors will bring another N3 billion, translating into about N96 billion to build 24 hostels across 24 institutions.
He added: ‘We are also spending another N1 billion to deliver at least 1,300 bed spaces of hostels in another 24 tertiary institutions in the country. So, cumulatively, we’re spending about N250 billion in just 2026 alone to deliver world-class, high-standard student accommodation hostels across all our various tertiary institutions in the country, both federal and state’.
On the timeline for completion, the Minister explained: ‘These are projects that we are fast-tracking in a way that starts delivering comfort to the students as soon as possible. For the PPP hostels, the completion period is 24 months. For the over N200 billion hostels, we have a completion period of less than 12 months’.
Earlier in his remarks, Alausa commended LASU for being one of the most sought-after institutions in the country and for having the highest student population.
He outlined additional intervention programmes planned for the institution.
He said the Presidency, through TETFund, has a five-point agenda for universities, which includes the rehabilitation of students’ hostels, rehabilitation of classrooms, lecture theatres and auditoriums.
