The Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has charged Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian public universities to urgently diversify funding sources and strengthen Advancement Offices
He warned that government allocations alone cannot sustain tertiary institutions.
Dr. Alausa gave the directive at the National Advancement Forum 2026 in Abuja, expressing concern that only 4 out of 68 federal universities are currently making meaningful use of alternative funding such as research grants, endowments, alumni giving, philanthropy and industry partnerships.
“Government funding is not enough. Universities live, function and excel on blended funding,” the Minister said.
He urged VCs to move beyond administering allocated funds to actively building relationships with alumni, businesses, philanthropists and research funders to attract resources for laboratories, scholarships, research chairs and innovation programmes.
“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, describing the current situation as “unacceptable.”
The Minister stressed that the call was not a withdrawal of government support.
He noted that the Tinubu administration currently funds personnel costs in full, allows universities to retain 75% of internally generated revenue, and continues direct and special interventions through TETFund.
He also recalled that President Tinubu approved a framework to move research and endowment funds out of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to commercial banks of choice, to provide greater flexibility and build confidence in managing such resources.
To strengthen resource mobilisation, Dr. Alausa issued immediate directives:
All University Advancement Offices must report directly to the Vice-Chancellor, not to the Registrar.
Directors of Advancement must have a minimum internal tenure of 5 years, renewable, to build lasting donor and alumni relationships.
“Advancement Office operation is a professional job,” he said.
“Advancement officers are professional fundraisers who require institutional support, stability and the confidence of university management to deliver results.”
The Minister also urged universities to develop functional alumni databases and deploy technology to maintain lifelong relationships with graduates in Nigeria and abroad, describing alumni engagement as a strategic component of institutional advancement.
Dr. Alausa announced that the Ministry, in collaboration with the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHEF), will develop a comprehensive national framework for sustainable financing of tertiary institutions.
The framework will cover: endowment governance, accountability, research grants, Advancement Office structures, alumni giving, industry partnerships, philanthropy incentives, revenue management and transparency.
All public universities will be progressively onboarded and expected to: build an endowment, establish an effective advancement structure, maintain a functional alumni database, strengthen research funding capacity, and develop partnerships with industry and philanthropists.
“The objective is not to replace government funding or depend solely on internally generated revenue, but to establish diversified and resilient financing systems that complement government support and sustain academic excellence,” the Minister clarified.
He assured that the Federal Ministry of Education will continue to provide policy direction and an enabling environment, while expecting university leaders to take greater responsibility for mobilising resources.
“Institutions that fail to diversify their funding base risk limiting their capacity for sustained growth, research and academic excellence,” Alausa warned.