ARC ECHONO: THE RENEWED OPTIMISM IN TETFUND BY TERSOO ADADGER

It is three months now since President Muhammadu Buhari approved the appointment of Architect Sonny Echono as the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

Architect Echono took over from Professor Sulaiman Bogoro whose five year tenure ended on March 18th, 2022. In a statement released by the Federal Ministry of Education, the towering profile of the new TETFund Executive Secretary was summarized succinctly as:

“An accomplished technocrat, Architect Echono brings to the job, diverse wealth of experience spanning infrastructure, business administration, procurement management and the education sector.” His appointment and assumption of office has been greeted with cheers from many stakeholders owing to Echono’s inspiring and eventful career in the civil service.

For many who know Architect Echono, his integrity and commitment to duty has never been in doubt. Prior to his appointment, he had served meritoriously as Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education and Member Board of Trustees of TETFund among many other important national assignments.

A body of professionals who spoke under the auspices of Benue Patriots, lauded President Buhari for not cocooning into primordial sentiments in the choice of “Appointing a Benue son as head of the tertiary education agency despite the political differences that exist between him (President Buhari) and Benue State Governor, Mr Samuel Ortom.”

The group affirmed that “We all saw how Architect Echono rose to the top of the civil service career. Without lobbying, he was offered the opportunity to extend his tenure as Permanent Secretary, but he politely refused, insisting to play by the rules. Apparently, this was one of the qualities that earned him this appointment,” the group noted.

In a convocation lecture delivered at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka on the 16th March, 2022 shortly before he assumed duty as TETFund boss, the visionary technocrat and administrator gave a clear direction to the future of tertiary education in Nigeria.

He expressed confidence that our universities and industry, brought together by Government, with support, facilitation and encouragement, shall spearhead the needed transformation of our country.

“We must not only seek to be active participants in the global knowledge economy but also aim to become bonafide citizens of the knowledge society-one that recognizes, utilizes and accords respect to the centrality of knowledge in all spheres of development. It is only then we can answer in the affirmative the question posed by the silent voice of the majority of Nigerians on the fate of future generations of our country, including those unborn,” he submitted.

Architect Echono’s appointment raises hope that merit still counts as it has shown that President Buhari is interested in salvaging the tertiary education system from the daunting challenges it faces. By appointing competent hands; President Buhari has also demonstrated that he rewards hard work, dedication and integrity, virtues which the unassuming TetFund Executive Secretary has proven throughout his sterling civil service career.

Nigerians and of course Nigerian tertiary education’s stakeholders are optimistic that Architect Echono will build on the legacy of his predecessor, Professor Bogoro whose tenure has been commended for maximal performance in predication to the challenges he met.

Nevertheless, Architect Sunday Echono came at a very critical time in the history of the tertiary education sector in Nigeria, especially the embarrassing and lingering strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that has plagued Nigeria public universities.

For Architect Echono who is very conversant with the challenges facing our tertiary education system, we are optimistic that he will bring this wealth of experience to bear on the agency whose relevance to the growth of the educational sector cannot be overemphasized.

Adagher, Public Affairs Analyst Writes from Abuja.