26 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us AMERICAN Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies Volume 02, Issue 07, 2024 ISSN (E):2993-2157 Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND): Roles and Challenges Niyi Jacob Ogunode Department of Education, University of Abuja, Nigeria Adaka T. Ahon, PhD Special Needs Education Department, Federal University of Lafia Abdulkadir Umar Department of Planning, Research and Statistics National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja Abstract: Purpose: This paper examines the roles of the tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) in the development of tertiary institutions in Nigeria and the various challenges militating against the effectiveness of the fund. Method: The paper is a review study. The paper depends on secondary data that were collected from government documents, print resources and online publications. Content analysis was used to narrow the literature to the theme of the study. Findings: The study revealed that the major roles of tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) in the Nigerian tertiary institutions include; infrastructure facilities development, research development and staff training programme. The study also identified; inadequate funding, shortage of personnel, inadequate transportation facilities, insecurity, abscondment of sponsored academic staff, poor retirement from institutions and Naira depreciation as some of the challenges militating against the effectiveness of the Fund. Recommendations:The government should increase the funding of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) by increasing the percentage of the education tax to 5%. This will enable the funds to execute more infrastructure facilities projects and staff training. The fund should increase allocation to research programmes in the various tertiary institutions across the country. Keywords: Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Nigeria. Introduction There are many definitions of tertiary education according to different scholars. For instance, tertiary education is an education system designed to solve local, national and international pressing problems (Ogunode&Musa 2024)). Tertiary education is an organized education for the development of manpower and national transformation via teaching, research and community services (Ogunode & Ayeni, 2024). Tertiary education is the education after secondary school education and for specialization (Ogunode, Ayeni, &Ogwuche, 2024). The tertiary institution can also be seen as a subset of the general society that is made of a collection of different people, different cultures, different lifestyles and different values (Ogunode and Odo 2023). Tertiary education is a planned and organized educational system designed for the total development of men/women and for the total transformation of society through the utilization of teaching, research and provision of community service (Ogunode, Edinoh&Okolie 2023).Ogunode 27 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us andMcbrown (2022) viewed tertiary education as an educational system that advances the implementation of the teaching programme, research programme and community service programme for the socio-economic and technological development of the country. Idowu (2020) view tertiary institutions as the types of schools which a student will attend after secondary school such as Universities, Polytechnics, Monotechnic Colleges of Education and other Institutions of higher learning offering correspondence courses, diplomas and certificates. Tertiary education or higher education covers a wider range of higher learning institutions which include the university and other institutions. These higher learning institutions could be organized in different ways, commonly within a university and in a separate institution as university and other tertiary learning institutions. Tertiary Education is the type of education that a person undergoes after the basic secondary education. It could be in a University, Polytechnic or college of education (Alemu 2018). Ibrahim (2017) noted that higher institutions are very important in meeting the socio-cultural and developmental needs of a country. Tertiary education can be defined as the level of education acquired after secondary education in higher institutions of learning such as Universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of education and otherinstitutions of higher learning offering correspondence courses, diplomas and certificates (Oraka, Ogbodo & Ezejiofor, 2017) Tertiary education is an education that is anchored on teaching, research and provision of community services for the total transformation of the nation. Tertiary education is defined by the National Policy on Education (2013) as the education given after Post Basic Education in institutions such as Universities and Inter-University Centres such as the Nigeria French Language Village, Nigeria Arabic Language Village, National Institute of Nigerian Languages, institutions such as Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs), and Colleges of Education, Monotechnics, Polytechnics, and other specialized institutions such as Colleges of Agriculture, Schools of Health and Technology and the National Teachers' Institutes (NTI). Tertiary education according to (Akinyemi, 2013), is any of various types of education given in postsecondary institutions of learning and usually affording, at the end of a course of study, a named degree, diploma, or certificate of higher studies. The goal of higher education in Nigeria is designed towards advancing Nigeria's economic growth and global competitiveness through the provision of accessible, relevant, high-quality education in our Tertiary Education Institutions and to constantly attract, develop and graduate competent, knowledgeable and talented individuals from our Tertiary Education Institutions. The goals of Tertiary Education shall be to: Contribute to national development through high- level manpower training; provide accessible and affordable quality learning opportunities in formal and informal education in response to the needs and interests of all Nigerians; provide high-quality career counselling and lifelong learning programmes that prepare students with the knowledge and skills for self-reliance and the world of work; reduce skill shortages through the production of skilled manpower relevant to the needs of the labour market; promote and encourage scholarship, entrepreneurship and community service; forge and cement national unity; and promote national and international understanding and interaction (FRN, 2013). Nigerian tertiary education is faced with a lot of problems. Echono (2023) noted that Nigeria's tertiary institutions continue to encounter problems of inadequate facilities and basic infrastructure. Facilities such as laboratories, lecture halls and classrooms are either dilapidated or absent in many of our institutions across the Country. In recent times ICT has come to occupy an important place in teaching and learning. However, ICT facilities are lacking in most of the tertiary institutions in the country. Ogunode, Jegede, Adah, Audu, and Ajape (2020); Ogunode, andAtobauka, (2021);Ogunode, Ezema, and Olugbenga (2022); Ogunode, Onaolapo, Onaolapo, Adeosun, andAyoko (2023), and Amaechi, Ayeni and Madu (2019) identified bad leadership and corruption as challenges facing every sector in Nigeria, of which tertiary institution is part. In the bid to overcome these challenges and to create a conducive academic environment in higher education institutions, Echono (2023) ascertained that a commission was set up by the 28 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us then military head of state of Nigeria, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in December 1990 to review higher education in the country. The commission was named after its chairman, the Gray Longe Commission and was charged with the responsibility of reviewing the post-independence higher education reforms including that of Lord Ashby's commission of 1959. The commission after its review recommended among others the funding of higher education through earmarked tax borne by all registered companies operating in Nigeria. Through the recommendations of the commission, the implementation committee headed by Prof. Olu O. Akinkugbe reached and signed an agreement on the 3rd September 1993, between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) who had included in their agitation, the implementation of the Gray Longe Commission Report for the funding of public higher education institutions in Nigeria. Significantly, the signed agreement led to the establishment of the Education Tax Fund (ETF) Act No.7 of 1993 as amended by Act No.40 of 1998 to Education Trust Fund which then catered for all sectors of education namely; primary, secondary, and higher education institutions (Echono 2023). The act empowered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to assess and collect the Education Tax (EDT) on behalf of the Fund and remit it to the Fund through the Central Bank of Nigeria. The TETFund Act No. 16 of 2011 exited the primary and secondary education sector and was focused only on public tertiary institutions namely public Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) is an interventionist agency of the federal government established by an act of parliament known as the TETFund Act No.16, 2011. The agency is charged with the responsibility to deliver effective and transformative interventions to all public tertiary education institutions defined in the Act as Public Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in Nigeria through funding and effective project management (Echono 2023). The Fund since its establishment has strategically positioned the nation's higher institutions by providing essential physical infrastructure and content-based programmes for effective teaching, learning, research, and innovation for global competitiveness. TETFund administers, manages, disburses, and monitors the utilization of the initial 2% and now 2.5% Education Tax paid by all registered companies operating in Nigeria. This tax is allocated on an annual basis to Public Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education in the ratio of 2:1:1 (Tetfund, 2023). The Tertiary Education Trust Fund is expected to complement the government's budgetary allocation for the tertiary education sub-sector, to reposition the sub-sector for better performance. The agency currently provides intervention to Two Hundred and Forty-Six (246) public tertiary institutions in Nigeria which are 96 Universities, 75 Polytechnics and 75 Colleges of Education (Echono 2023). It is imperative to examine the roles and challenges militating against the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) as an agency of government from carrying out its mandate as expected. Methodology This paper adopted content analysis to select literature for the study. It is a documentary research-inclined paper that uses secondary sources of data from abstracts, books, journals, newspapers, case study reports and archival records that were sourced from online and print resources. The large volume of published literature on this subject informs the need to employ the documentary research method, rather than the qualitative research method which is suitable for studying individuals, groups or organisations as a unit of analysis (Ayeni, Saman, & Sani, 2019). Theoretical Framework This paper is anchored on role theory that was developed by Ralph Linton in sociology and George Herbert Mead in social psychology. Role refers to the social expectations and the social scripts of family roles—how roles have been shaped by cultural conventions and by the collective ideologies of a society. The role theory hinges on the principle that the developing social role theory 29 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us focuses on how well individuals adopt and act out their roles during interactions. Individuals do not necessarily embrace all the identities associated with their roles, though; the extent to which they are committed to identifying with the expectations placed on them can vary. As an outcome of these interactions, individuals may identify themselves or be identified by others as holding particular statuses or positions. The social role refers to the behaviours and responsibilities expected of individuals in society (Sciencedirect.com 2020). The theory is related to the present study because every Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has a special role to play in the development of tertiary education in Nigeria. As a government agency with responsibilities of facilities, research development and staff training, it must ensure that its roles are executed as stated in the act establishing iAt. The performance of these roles will help the tertiary institutions realize their objective and this will directly and indirectly lead to national development. On the other hand, not performing the stated roles expected of the government agency is coterminous with what scholars refer to as the inability of the governance system or structure to perform its roles that hurt the educational system (Ogunode, Ayeni, & Olorundare, 2024; Ayeni &Nwaorgu, 2018) Roles of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) plays many roles in the development of tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Some of the specific roles include; facilities development, research development and staff training. Infrastructure Facilities The role of infrastructure facilities cannot be overemphasised. This is because of its countless benefits to both the individual and society at large. According to Ayeni, Sani, Andeshi, Ibrahim and Adamu (2020), infrastructural development has intended and unintended benefits to the youth. One of the intended benefits of infrastructure facilities was noted by a scholar who argued thatinfrastructure can empower people (Ayeni, 2017). The role of empowerment that infrastructure facilities played has been aptly put in this manner, massive infrastructural development provides a suitable environment and support for the development of entrepreneurship skills and industrialisation (Ayeni, Abdullahi & Andeshi, 2021). Consequent to the vital roles of infrastructure facilities, the government set up TETFUND to address the challenges of infrastructural decay in Nigeria's tertiary institutions among others. The above is validated by Echono (2023), according to the TETFUND boss, infrastructure has been given special attention because of its decay and collapse across public tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Furthermore, Echono (2023) maintained that a careful observation showed that the Fund between January — October 2022 alone carried out and completed 607 infrastructural projects amounting to N26,722,833,189.97 across beneficiary institutions. These projects include the construction of senate buildings, lecture theatres, classrooms, hostels, offices, library buildings, laboratories, road network, power, fencing and procurement of equipment, amongst many others. Idachaba, (2024); Ogunode, Kasimu, & Sambo (2023); and Ogunode, andJegede,(2020) concluded that have impacted positively on the infrastructural facilities development of the tertiary institutions across the country. Anaehobi, &Agim, (2019); and Eneasator, Azubuike, andOko, (2019) submitted that Tetfund has aided infrastructure facilities development in tertiary institutions across the country. Research Development The role of development research can never be underestimated. This informs the reason why research is one of the cardinal focuses of tertiary institutions. For instance, it has been noted that tertiary education is an education that embraces advanced teaching, research and community service (Ogunode, Ayeni, &Ogwuche, 2024).Research has remained a special intervention line of the Fund since it was introduced in 2009. There is no doubt that research remains the most important aspect and instrument of advanced learning and innovation if society and humanity are to make any meaningful progress. In 2014, upon recommendation and approval of the Board of 30 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us Trustees, Echono (2023) noted that the Department of Research and Development/Centres of Excellence in TETFund was established. It was thought that research without development would not provide the needed growth that Nigeria as a nation direly needs. The National Research Fund was set up with N3 Billion as its take-off grant in 2011, and in 2015 another NI Billion was added. And in 2019 upon the recommendation of the BOT and the Honourable Minister of Education, the president approved a 50% increase in allocation to the NRF, being N7.5 Billion for that year and N8.5 Billion in 2021. Between year 2012 and 2019, a total of about N9 Billion was committed to the NRF with about 457 research projects approved across the country. This is in addition to the Institution Research grants and support for Academic Research Journals across public tertiary institutions by TETFund. About 2,175 projects were approved under Institution Research from 2011 to 2020, while about 342 Academic Research Journal projects were undertaken within the period. The Fund also provides support to Institutions for targeted needs under Special Intervention, as directed by the government. Some areas of Special Intervention over the years include support for NUGA games, Special High Impact projects in selected institutions for each geo-political zone and the COVID-19 response Intervention on the research effort for producing a national vaccine, the 6 Academic Publishing Centers to mention a few (Echono 2023). Kwashabawa, & Mustapha, (2023); and Isiaka, Nasiru andOlushola (2020) maintained that the establishment of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) has assisted Nigerian tertiary institutions in developing their research programme. Staff Training Staff training is one of the cardinal goals of the tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND). This is so because staff training improves the performance of individuals on their jobs by correcting any deficiency in human effort (Ogunode & Ayeni, 2023). Based on the importance of training, TETFUNDhas since its inception been implementing different programmes and policies to improve staff development in all the tertiary institutions across the country. TETFund according to Echono (2023) has sponsored over 10,632 lecturers in the local Ph.D. programs, as well as over 9,072 lecturers in the local Master's degree programme across the country between 2011 and 2020. The Fund has also sponsored over 7,677 academic staff to overseas institutions comprising 4,485 lecturers for PhD programs and over 3,192 Master's degree candidates within the same period. The Fund has further supported 71,263 Lecturers in Federal and State Colleges of Education under its teacher supervision program, bringing it to a total number of 98,644 academic staff across public tertiary institutions that have benefited from the academic staff training and development program of the Fund. In the same vein, the Fund sponsored an estimated 17,121 academic staff across tertiary institutions in the country to foreign conferences, while 4,459 non-academic staff of public tertiary institutions benefitted from sponsorship to workshops. In addition, 17,410 academic staff were sponsored to attend local conferences within the country, while 28,660 non-academic staff were sponsored by the Fund to attend local conferences and workshops in the country, all to build capacity, skills, and manpower in the nation’s ivory towers. In all, the Fund has sponsored a total of 67,650 academic and non- academic staff of public tertiary institutions to local and overseas conferences between 2011 and year 2021 (Echono 2023). Ogunode (2023);Abdulaziz, Olokooba, &Iyekolo (2020); Ibrahim, (2017) and Ofojebe, & Chukwuma, (2015) established that TETFund has sponsored over 20,359 academic and non-academic staff to local conferences while 2,869 attended conferences outside the country. The Fund also intervened in 84 academic Journal publications and 22 manuscript development. Challenges facing Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) There are many challenges militating against the effectiveness of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in addressing the problems facing tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Some of these problems include; inadequate funding, shortage of personnel, inadequate transportation facilities, insecurity, abscondment of sponsored academics, poor retirement from institutions and Naira Depreciation. 31 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us Inadequate funding The sources of funds for implementation of tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) problems are not adequate. It is affecting the levels of programmes they can undertake in the various tertiary institutions across the country. One of the most serious problems militating against the effective execution of developmental projects in the various institutions is the dwindling level of funds coming into the agency to carry out their functions. This shortage of funds affects the initiation of new projects and completion of projects in various institutions spread across the Country. The Fund cannot perform optimally without the constant flow of planned funds. This situation calls for increased funding initiatives from both the government and educational stakeholders to sustain the development projects started across different institutions. The inability of the Agency to realize all the taxies as formulated in the act directing for the collection of 2.5% Education Tax paid by all registered companies operating in Nigeria impacted negatively on the performance of the funds since inception. Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND) is faced with the problem of shortage of funds. Executive Secretary of TETFUND, disclosed that from 2017 to date the fund has hadthe challenge of steady revenue. He noted that the year 2021 collection, which is what the Fund will be used to operate in the 2022 year, dropped to N189 billion. He observed that the fund has witnesseda steady rise in collections under the education tax but unfortunately, last year, for 2021 there was a sharp drop and that left us in a very dire position.― For example, He submitted that from N154 billion in 2017, the tax collection rose steadily to N257 billion over the years. ―So by 2020, we‘ve got N257 billion, but unfortunately, the year 2021 collection, which is what we used to operate in the year 2022, dropped sharply to N189 billion. ―So over N60 billion drop in revenue or resources available to TETFUND (Tribune online 2022). The unstable revenue generation of the fund has affected staff training programmes in many tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Shortage of personnel Another major problem militating against the effectiveness of tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) in carrying out their functions as expected is the problem of shortage of staff. The Fund like every other public institution in Nigeria is faced with the problem of inadequate manpower. Adequate personnel are very important for institutions to realize their goals. Personnel are expected to help the institutions carry out their mandate and achieve the institution’s goals when well-motivated and provided with all working resources. Shortages of personnel affectthe effectiveness of institutions and slow down their programmes. Yusuf, (2019) noted that the poor performance of many public institutions is linked to the shortage of staff. Femi (2018) observed that TETFUND as an institution lacks adequate staff to deliver its mandate. A study by Adewale (2017) on public institutions in Nigeria discovered that many commissions and agencies of the Federal Government are understaffed and have affected the implementation of their statutory functions. Inadequate transportation facilities Inadequate transportation facility is another challenge hindering the effectiveness of the tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) as an agency. The mandates of the Fund require her to have different types of mobility for monitoring and evaluation of projects in the various institutions across the country. There is a shortage of mobility resources in the fund and this is affecting the operation of the Fund in terms of field inspection and monitoring. Yusuf, (2019) maintained that many public institutions whose functions demand supervision and evaluation do not have adequate vehicles to carry out their functions effectively. For instance, Ogunode&Adanna (2022) noted that the job of supervision, inspection, regulation and programme accreditation demands that the commissions carrying out those functions should have adequate transportation facilities. It is expected of such commissions to be fully equipped with modern transport facilities that would enable them to discharge their responsibilities. It is sad to realize that many commissions such as the National Universities Commission [NUC], the National Commission for Colleges of Education [NCCE] and the National Board for Technical Education [NBTE] do not have 32 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us adequate transport facilities to carry out their functions. Many of these commissions something depend on the institutions'' facilities to convey their staff for the function of programme accreditation in the respective institutions which is not good enough. The inability of the Fund to access adequate mobility resources has affected its operation in the areas of project inspection. Insecurity Insecurity has negatively impacted every sphere of Nigeria's economy. Thus, scholars have argued that this insecurity does not just occur, rather it is caused by corruption (Muhammed &Ayeni, 2018). The above observation showed that the root cause of insecurity is corruption. Consequent to the above, scholars have posited that corruption poses a challenge to the well- being and sustainable peace of Nigerians (Ayeni & Sani, 2021).Insecurity is another problem hindering the job performance of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) regarding facilities development in tertiary institutions across the country. Nigeria since 1999 has been facing a lot of insecurity issues which range from Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping and killing. The insecurity problems have cut across almost all the geo-political zones of Nigeria. In the North-East zone, the Boko Haram element is killing, kidnapping and destroying infrastructure facilities in most of the states in the region. In the northwest, the banditry is also killing, kidnapping and attacking public institutions while in the South-East, the IBOP sit at room order. All these insecurities and problems affect the movement of people from one place to another. The functions of the Fund require the agency to deploy their staff to go for physical inspection of infrastructural facilities projects across the various institutions where they have projects. The fear of kidnapping and killing in red-spot states has prevented many of these staff from going for the physical inspection of projects. Yusuf, (2019) asserted that insecurity in Nigeria has affected many public officers and civil servants from carrying out their functions as required of them. Ogunode, Ahmed, Gregory & Abubakar (2020) noted that many capital projects of the federal government in educational institutions have been suspended in states with high insecurity problems. The insecurity problem facing the country now is another big factor responsible for project abandonment in Public Universities in Nigeria. Many contractors across the country have left the project site because of insecurity, projects especially in the North-East South-East have been abandoned by various contractors handling them because of attacks and the killing of their workers (Ogunode&Murtala, 2022). The high level of insecurity in the country is responsible for what scholars refer to as, the failure of leadership in Nigeria that has made federating units to be clamouring for fiscal federalism (Ayeni, 2018b). Abscondment of sponsored academic The problems of abscondment of sponsored academic staff from Nigerian tertiary institutions after finishing their programme is another big problem facing the Fund as an institution, as many sponsored academic staff from tertiary institutions have absconded after finishing their training - implying resource wastage. Amazing Time (2021) reported that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has decried the growing cases of abscondment among academic staff of various Nigerian universities sponsored for training abroad. TETFund has been intervening in the training of academic staff in Nigerian universities by sponsoring lecturers for further studies abroad. TETFund‘s Director, of Academic Staff Training and Development (AST&D), Muhammed Sulaiman, submitted some of the lecturers sponsored to foreign countries by TETFund for further, never returned to the country to serve their bond as they abscond. According to him, the foreign training programme was being abused and is slowly becoming a major problem affecting the education system. According to him, ―Some lecturers will be given the approval to study outside the country and will proceed with their studies but at the end of the day will not come back to the country to serve their bond or to continue their jobs as lecturers; these are some of the problems. The issue of abscondment is close to what a scholar refers to as a lack of leadership integrity. According to Ayeni (2018), leadership integrity is the activity of exhibiting leadership qualities like honesty, forward-lookingness, competency, inspiration, teaching, guidance, intelligence, and creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. Tertiary institution lecturerswho are supposed to lead by 33 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us example are now the ring leaders debasing the morale norm of the society through their abscondment. Poor retirement from institutions The beneficiaries of the Tetfundprogramme from respective institutions by law and policy guidelines are to retire their expenditure report to the institutions. This will help the institutions to retire to the fund on all funds received from the Fund. The failure of many academic staff, non-academic staff and researchers to retire when they are supposed to retire to their institutions and the inability of the institutions to officially retire and explain how the funds released to the institutions have been used is affecting the effective operation of the agency. This problem makes it impossible for the Fund to give an account of the fund released in past years. Poor retirement from various institutions affects the operation of the Fund. Universities that fail to retire or account for the previous funds will not be able to access a new fund. The inability of many universities not to account for funds collected prevented them from accessing new funds which directly affected staff training of the universities. Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) revealed that some public universities, colleges of education and polytechnics failed to access about N175 billion allocated to them in the last six years because of poor retirement (Tribune (2017). Naira depreciation Nigeria's economy is oil-based and that determines the revenue that comes to the country. Demand and supply of oil in the international market affect the stability of the Naira the Nigerian currency (Ogunode, Kasimu, & Sambo, 2023). The falling demands of Nigerian oil make the Naira weak and depreciate on time. The depreciation of the Naira affects academic sponsorship from Nigeria because the value of the Naira in most of the developed countries is weak. (Punch 2022) quoted TETFUND who observed that some of the lecturers under the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFUND academic staff training and development programme have lamented the shortage of funds to enable them to complete their studies abroad. They submitted that the current exchange rate was a major challenge affecting their studies abroad as a result of the Naira depreciation, which made them embark on certain jobs to complete their studies. The lecturers disclosed this when TETFUND. Some lecturers in the scheme narrated the impact of the Naira depreciation on their studies in the United Kingdom. ―Some of us arrived foreign land and we had to do certain other jobs to cushion the effects of our weak naira. The value of the naira kept depreciating and this adversely affected our studies to the extent that some scholars stopped at pilot study (Punch 2022). On the naira exchange rate, the situation has affected the spending power of the agency, despite the increase in allocation. In addition to the foregoing, scholars have also argued that inflation has direct and indirect consequences on the performance of students in secondary school (Ukozor, Ayeni, &Andeshi, 2024).Therefore, I will advise heads of institutions to maximize funds and seek internal training opportunities. Conclusion and Recommendations This paper critically discussed the roles of tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) as regarded infrastructure facilities, research development and staff training. The paper also looked at the various challenges preventing the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) from carrying out its mandate. The paper concluded that the major roles of tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) in the Nigerian tertiary institutions include; infrastructure facilities development, research development and staff training programme. Inadequate funding, shortage of personnel, inadequate transportation facilities, insecurity, abscondment of sponsored academic staff, poor retirement from institutions, and Naira depreciation were identified as the challenges preventing the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) from carrying out its mandate Based on the findings of this study, the paper recommends that the government should increase the funding of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) by increasing the percentage of 34 Journal of Public Diplomacy and International Studies www. grnjournal.us the education tax to 5%. This will enable the funds to execute more infrastructure facilities projects and staff training. 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