Northern Nigeria has received the larger share of the Federal Government’s ₦38.93bn Needs Assessment Revitalisation Fund allocated to 166 public tertiary institutions across the country.
An analysis of the disbursement figures shows that institutions in the North received a combined ₦21.55bn, representing 55.35 per cent of the total allocation, while their counterparts in the South received ₦17.38bn, accounting for 44.65 per cent.
The fund was released by the Federal Government to address infrastructure challenges and improve teaching and learning facilities in public tertiary institutions.
The allocation covers 79 universities, 46 polytechnics and 41 colleges of education across the six geopolitical zones.
A breakdown by geopolitical zones shows that the North-West received the highest allocation, with ₦8.15bn distributed among 40 beneficiary institutions. This represents 20.93 per cent of the total fund.
The North-Central followed with ₦7.04bn for 31 institutions, representing 18.09 per cent, while the North-East received ₦6.36bn for 29 institutions, accounting for 16.33 per cent.
In the southern region, the South-West received ₦6.77bn for 25 institutions, representing 17.39 per cent of the total allocation.
The South-East received ₦5.39bn for 21 institutions, accounting for 13.84 per cent, while the South-South had the lowest allocation of ₦5.23bn for 20 institutions, representing 13.42 per cent.
The figures further indicate that northern institutions account for 100 of the 166 beneficiaries, representing approximately 60.2 per cent. Southern institutions make up the remaining 66 beneficiaries, or 39.8 per cent.
At the state level, Kaduna emerged as the biggest beneficiary, with eight institutions receiving a combined ₦2.44bn, representing 6.26 per cent of the total fund.
Kano State followed with ₦1.86bn allocated to nine institutions, while seven institutions in Kwara State received ₦1.71bn.
Ogun State received ₦1.58bn for six institutions, while six institutions in Adamawa got ₦1.57bn.
Anambra received ₦1.50bn for five institutions, while Rivers State got ₦1.49bn for five beneficiaries. Enugu received ₦1.46bn, while Niger and Osun states received ₦1.45bn and ₦1.43bn, respectively.
Other beneficiaries include Imo State, which received ₦1.39bn for four institutions, and Bauchi, which got ₦1.37bn for five institutions.
Edo State received ₦1.37bn for three institutions, while Cross River got ₦1.36bn for three beneficiaries. Borno and Plateau received ₦1.36bn and ₦1.35bn, respectively.
Ondo State received ₦1.29bn, while Sokoto got ₦1.20bn. Two institutions in Oyo State were allocated ₦1.10bn.
Among states with allocations below ₦1bn, Yobe received ₦858.45m, while the Federal Capital Territory got ₦814.61m.
Kebbi received ₦753.99m, Nasarawa got ₦739.53m, and Lagos State received ₦732.21m. Katsina and Kogi were allocated ₦721.62m and ₦673.57m, respectively.
Ebonyi received ₦669.26m, while Ekiti and Gombe got ₦635.34m and ₦632.35m, respectively.
Zamfara was allocated ₦593.09m, Jigawa received ₦580.44m, while Taraba got ₦559.10m.
At the lower end of the distribution, Akwa Ibom received ₦413.15m, Abia got ₦364.49m, and Bayelsa received ₦350.39m.
Benue State was allocated ₦302.09m, while Delta recorded the lowest state allocation, with two beneficiary institutions receiving a combined ₦239.67m.
The Needs Assessment Intervention Fund was established following concerns about the poor state of infrastructure in public universities and the need to improve the quality of education in the country.
Its origin can be traced to the 2009 agreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which included commitments to improve university funding and infrastructure.
In 2012, the Federal Government conducted a needs assessment of public universities to identify infrastructure shortages and determine the specific requirements of individual institutions.
The intervention was supported by a government pledge of ₦1.3tn for public universities between 2013 and 2018, with the funds expected to be released in instalments of ₦220bn. However, only the first tranche was substantially released at the time.
The latest disbursement extends the intervention beyond universities to include polytechnics and colleges of education, with 166 public tertiary institutions benefiting nationwide.
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