Renowned lawyer, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), has called for an amendment to the TETfund Act.
He particularly frowned on Section 7(1) of the TETFund Act, noting that it contradicts the provisions of Section 3 (1) of the Act and violates Section 18 of the 1979 Constitution.
He spoke at the commencement of the 48th Conference of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers at the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
The Head of Public Relations in the university, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, made this known in a statement on Monday.
According to Babalola, only such an amendment can address the “unfair and unjustifiable exclusion of private institutions” from benefitting from the funds accruable from TETFund.
Babalola, who is the ABUAD founder, wondered why the provisions of Section 7(1) of the Act should exclude private institutions, including universities, from benefitting from the funds collected from private companies in the country.
He said, “It seems clearly that Section 7(1) of the Act contradicts the provisions of Section 3(1) and violates Section 18 of the 1979 Constitution. The exclusion of private institutions, apart from the contradiction between Sections 3 and 7 of the Law, is obviously unconstitutional, unfair and unjustifiable.”
However, the senior advocate suggested that the authorities should put certain measures in place to check the likely abuses by the benefiting private schools.
For instance, he recommended that any private university that has a minimum of 20 of its courses accredited by the National Universities Commission deserved access to the fund.
Babalola also suggested that private universities that offer postgraduate studies should have access to the fund.
On the conference entitled “Mainstreaming Interdisciplinary Approach to Legal Education: Imperatives for Nigeria’s Development”, Babalola said there was need to combine knowledge of law and other forms of expertise.
According to him, the university is applying the approach in order to prepare its students for future challenges.
He added, “ABUAD cares so much about its students and their future as a result of which it has created interdisciplinary and outreaching model of entrepreneurship education. It also offers undergraduate courses in soft managerial skills, teamwork skills across all disciplines in law and entrepreneurship, among others.”
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