THE Federal Government has earmarked N250 billion for the construction of hostels in tertiary institutions across the country, the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has disclosed.
News Point Nigeria reports that the minister made the announcement during the soil-turning ceremony of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and Public-Private Partnership hostel development intervention project held at Lagos State University and Yaba College of Technology.
According to Alausa, the present administration remains focused on the education and empowerment of Nigerian youths, a commitment he said informed the political and financial decision to invest massively in student accommodation.
The project is structured as a Public-Private Partnership involving TETFund and private investors under a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement.
The intervention is aimed at expanding and improving accommodation facilities for students in the beneficiary institutions.
Giving a breakdown of the N250 billion allocation, the minister explained that the government is spending N100 billion to construct student hostels in more than 50 tertiary institutions across the country.
“We are spending N100 billion, N2 billion each to build 500 spaces of student hotels 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,” Alausa said.
He further explained that while TETFund would contribute N1 billion to the project, private investors would provide an additional N3 billion, bringing the total investment for the 24 hostels to about N96 billion.
According to him, another N1 billion is also being committed toward the delivery of at least 1,300 bed spaces in an additional 24 tertiary institutions nationwide.
“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,” the minister added.
Speaking on the expected completion timeline, Alausa said the projects are being accelerated to ensure students begin enjoying improved comfort as quickly as possible.
“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,” he stated.
Earlier in his remarks, the minister commended LASU for emerging as one of the most sought-after tertiary institutions in Nigeria and for having one of the highest student populations in the country.
He also highlighted additional intervention programmes planned for the institution.
According to him, the Presidency, through TETFund, has developed a five-point agenda for universities, which includes the rehabilitation of students’ hostels, classrooms, lecture theatres, and auditoriums.