The Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has urged Nigerian universities to strengthen their advancement activities and diversify their funding sources to ensure financial sustainability and long-term institutional development.
Alausa made the call at the 2026 National University Advancement Forum, organised by the Nigerian Higher Education Foundation (NHEF) for advancement offices in federal universities.
The two-day forum, held in Abuja from September 8 to 9, 2026 was themed: “Strengthening University Advancement: Professionalization, Peer Learning, and Leadership.”
A team from the Directorate of Advancement and Linkages (DAL) of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), led by the director, Prof. Bridget .A. Yakubu, participated in the forum.
The Minister said although the Federal Government remained committed to supporting higher education, government funding alone could not sustainably finance universities.
He therefore urged universities to explore diverse and legitimate sources of revenue, including competitive research grants, endowments, philanthropy, alumni giving, industry partnerships and investment income.
“No government anywhere in the world can sustainably fund higher education alone. This is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is the reality of higher education financing globally,” he said.
Alausa also charged Vice-Chancellors to take ownership of university advancement by providing advancement offices with the necessary authority, resources and professional support.
He stressed that advancement was a professional function requiring trained personnel, institutional continuity and sustained support.
The Alausa further highlighted the importance of technology in strengthening advancement activities, noting that NHEF had developed a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform to assist universities in managing advancement-related data.
He also called for the development of a national framework for university advancement that could be adapted by individual institutions to suit their specific needs.
The Chairman of NHEF, Mr. Wale Adeosun, commended the Minister for championing initiatives aimed at improving the sustainability of Nigerian universities.
Adeosun noted that although government had played a major role in funding universities, institutions needed to look beyond government support and engage their alumni more effectively.
“The biggest source of funding for the sustainability of Nigerian universities is the alumni of the universities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the National University Advancement Programme (NUAP), Dr. Anne Okaomee, said the forum provided an opportunity for participating universities to review progress made since the advancement training held in June.
She said the programme also offered a platform for Vice-Chancellors and advancement professionals to examine their respective roles in resource mobilisation and institutional sustainability.
“We all know that the Vice-Chancellors are the chief fundraisers for the universities,” Okaomee said.
The forum featured institutional progress presentations, a Vice-Chancellors’ Forum on advancement leadership and funding, an Advancement Directors’ Dialogue, peer-learning sessions, a post-training survey and discussions on priorities for implementing advancement activities across participating universities.
For NOUN, participation in the forum provided an opportunity for the Directorate of Advancement and Linkages to engage with counterparts from other universities, exchange experiences and gain practical insights into strengthening advancement initiatives, resource mobilisation and institutional sustainability.
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