The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has commissioned an Academic Publishing Centre (APC) at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, to boost the production of academic textbooks and strengthen publishing capacity across tertiary institutions in the South-East.
The centre, commissioned on Friday by the Chairman of the TETFund Board of Trustees, Aminu Bello Masari, is designed to serve as a regional publishing hub for higher institutions, providing them with access to modern printing facilities and professional publishing services to address challenges associated with the production of academic textbooks and other scholarly materials.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, Masari, who was represented by the South-East member of the Board, Esther Ukachukwu, said the establishment of the centre reflected the Fund’s commitment to improving teaching, learning and research through targeted interventions in the tertiary education sector.
Masari explained that TETFund’s Higher Education Book Development Project was introduced to expand access to quality academic publications and strengthen indigenous publishing capacity in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions.
He disclosed that the Board of Trustees made a submission to the Federal Government for N2bn to commence the Higher Education Book Development Project in 2009, which was subsequently approved.
According to him, an additional N2.95bn was provided in 2019, while the Technical Advisory Group Committee was reinvigorated and inaugurated in August of the same year to strengthen the implementation of the project.
He said one of the major objectives was to establish and equip model Academic Publishing Centres in selected institutions across the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory, with their services extended to public tertiary institutions within their respective regions.
The South-East centre, located at UNIZIK, is therefore expected to provide publishing services for academic textbooks and other scholarly materials produced by institutions across the zone.
Masari described education as a strategic sector that must receive priority attention, noting that TETFund would continue to introduce interventions that promote innovation, improve learning outcomes and strengthen research development.
“TETFund will continue to deliver responsive intervention programmes and will be at the forefront in promoting creative and innovative approaches to educational learning and championing new literacy-enhancing areas.”
The TETFund BoT chairman, however, charged the university and other beneficiary institutions in the South-East to ensure that the facility was properly managed, effectively utilised and sustained.
“It is the expectation of the Fund and that of the Federal Government that the beneficiaries will reciprocate this gesture by ensuring that the APC located in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, is put into operation, properly managed and sustained by the host and beneficiary institutions within the zone,” he said.
He also solicited the cooperation of stakeholders to ensure the successful take-off of the centre, assuring that the Fund would remain committed to transparency and accountability in the discharge of its responsibilities.
In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University and Chairman of the Academic Publishing Centre Board, Prof. Bond Ugochukwu Stanley Anyaehie, described the commissioning as a significant milestone.
He expressed the university’s commitment to ensuring that the facility becomes operational and serves its intended purpose.
Speaking further, the VC expressed optimism that the UNIZIK facility would operate efficiently and effectively.
“So, on my honour, I pledge to make use of it, and try to operate the board and also get input from other universities to see how we can run it, and do all we can to protect it,” he said.
Anyaehie also thanked TETFund for locating the project at the university and appealed to the Fund to consider more interventions that would support the institution and other tertiary institutions in the region.
The commissioning ceremony also featured an inspection of the centre’s facilities, including modern printing machines and other state-of-the-art equipment installed to support academic publishing. Dedicated personnel were also seen on duty, signalling preparations for the commencement of operations.
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