FG spent N220bn on overseas training, 80% of beneficiaries stayed abroad, says Alausa

The Federal Government spent N220 billion through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) over 10 years to sponsor Nigerians for overseas training, with 80 percent of the beneficiaries refusing to return home. Minister of Education Tunji Alausa disclosed this on Thursday at the inauguration of the RHV-ROBOMED Robotic Academy at Redeemer’s Health Village, Redemption City, Ogun State.

Alausa said the trend happened before he was appointed and described it as disturbing. He said the government has stopped the foreign training programme and redirected resources to local training capacity.

Foreign training stopped

“Over 10 years, TETFund invested N220bn in sending people abroad to go and train. And guess what? 80 percent of those people did not come back to Nigeria,” he said.

He said the government could not continue to spend on a programme that failed to deliver expected benefits to Nigeria’s education system. The resources are now being used to establish specialised training centres in Nigerian universities.

Alausa said 28 Centres of Excellence have been established across 23 public and five private universities. The newly inaugurated robotic surgery academy at RHV will become the 29th Centre of Excellence under TETFund.

He said eligible medical professionals undergoing specialist training at the academy will be funded by TETFund. “Any student that is going to go will be completely funded by TETFund,” he said.

N250bn for medical education

The minister said the Federal Government has invested over N250bn in medical education infrastructure in the last two years. The investment covers simulation laboratories and rehabilitation of facilities in more than 24 medical schools.

He commended Nigerian medical professionals in the diaspora for supporting the robotic surgery academy and urged others to transfer their expertise to Nigeria.

Adedamola Dada, Chief Executive Officer of RHV, said the academy plans to train 400 specialists within two years. He said the institution acquired two robotic systems valued at about $4m, with one dedicated to surgical procedures and the other to training.

Dada said the programme will cover surgeons, nurses, biomedical engineers and other healthcare professionals to support robotic-assisted surgery across Nigeria. He appealed to the Federal Government to provide scholarships for postgraduate medical trainees in the programme.

Alausa assured the institution of government support. He said building domestic medical capacity would deliver more sustainable benefits than continued dependence on overseas training.

What it means

The shift could keep more training spending inside Nigeria and reduce the foreign exchange pressure from overseas programmes. It also signals more TETFund support for local institutions and specialised medical training.