A fresh push to connect tertiary education with economic development took centre stage in Lokoja, Kogi State, as Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said TETFund investment could help unlock the North Central region’s agricultural, mineral, energy and wider economic potential.

Speaking at the 2026 Tertiary Education Trust Fund North Central Zonal Town Hall Meeting, Idris said universities, polytechnics and colleges of education must become more closely aligned with the economic opportunities surrounding them.

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He said the region needed graduates equipped not only with academic qualifications but with practical expertise in agriculture, mining, manufacturing, technology and other productive sectors.

“Our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education must therefore be closely connected to these opportunities, producing the scientists, engineers, agricultural experts, technicians and entrepreneurs required to unlock the vast potential of the North Central,” Idris said.

The Federal Government’s 2026 intervention figures underline the scale of the investment.

Each public university is allocated about ₦2.53 billion, while each polytechnic is to receive approximately ₦1.87 billion and each college of education about ₦2.06 billion.

Idris stressed that the figures should be viewed as more than conventional government spending.

He said the funds could support laboratories, lecture halls, libraries, research and improved learning environments if effectively deployed.

The minister also called for stronger partnerships between tertiary institutions and industry, arguing that higher education should move beyond producing graduates to becoming engines of research, innovation and job creation.

That emphasis reflects a broader direction in TETFund’s 2026 programme.

The Fund’s procurement plans include ICT experience centres, AI-powered pedagogical centres, alternative solar power projects, research and development programmes, technology-transfer training and initiatives aimed at strengthening academia-industry collaboration.

For the North Central, the potential impact is particularly significant.

The region has major opportunities across agriculture, solid minerals, manufacturing, energy and technology, but turning those resources into broad-based prosperity requires institutions capable of supplying skilled workers and locally relevant research.

Idris also pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, technical and vocational education, digital skills and entrepreneurship programmes as complementary measures for expanding opportunities for young Nigerians.

“Education is therefore not only an economic investment; it is an investment in national security and social stability,” he said.

Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo reinforced the call for a more practical approach to tertiary education, urging institutions to focus research on problems affecting communities and the wider economy.

“We need research that solves problems in agriculture, mining, healthcare, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and security. Our research must move beyond theory to solutions that improve the lives of our people,” Ododo said.

Ododo said universities and other tertiary institutions should help convert the region’s natural resources and human capital into food security, industrial development, employment and sustainable growth.

The message places research and innovation at the centre of the region’s development ambitions.

Rather than treating tertiary institutions simply as places where students obtain certificates, the stakeholders argued that they should become practical problem-solving centres for their communities.

There is also a familiar accountability question surrounding such large-scale intervention funding. Idris urged TETFund to maintain transparency, effective monitoring and accountability in the utilisation of its resources, while asking stakeholders to ensure that recommendations from the town hall meeting produce measurable results.

The concern is consistent with the wider purpose of TETFund, which was established to manage and disburse education tax resources to public tertiary institutions. Its current mandate and programmes cover infrastructure, research, digital development and institutional strengthening.

The emphasis on accountability also echoes earlier TETFund town hall discussions.

In 2014, a North Central intervention meeting in Makurdi similarly focused on how beneficiary institutions were using allocated funds, with concerns raised over the visibility and impact of some projects.

The 2026 meeting therefore arrives with both an opportunity and a challenge.

Billions of naira are being committed to institutions across the region, but the ultimate measure of success will be whether the spending produces better facilities, stronger research, employable graduates and practical solutions to economic and social problems.

The gathering in Lokoja was attended by Secretary to the Government of the Federation representative Prof. Babatunde Bernard, former Kogi State Governor Captain Idris Wada, TETFund Board of Trustees Chairman Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari and other stakeholders.

For the North Central, the ambition is clear: transform education spending from infrastructure and classroom support into a more powerful foundation for innovation, enterprise and regional prosperity.

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Whether that ambition becomes reality will depend on how effectively institutions, government and industry turn the latest investment into measurable outcomes.