When NAAT conferred merit award on Echono for exemplary leadership

When renowned author, James Hadley Chase (real name Rene Raymond) penned his best-selling novel Goldfish Have No Hiding Place in 1974, the thriller fiction author and one of the best known thriller writers of all time, probably had the likes of the Executive Secretary, Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Arc. Sonny Echono, in mind. Barely two weeks after receiving an award at the 2024 Innovate African Conference held at Havard Graduate School of Education, United States of America, the TETFund helmsman has added yet another feather to his cap.
This time, he was conferred with an award of merit by the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) in recognition of his exemplary leadership in the education sector and service to humanity.

Speaking at the award ceremony, President of NAAT, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma, informed the guests that the award was in recognition of Echono’s exemplary leadership in the education sector, quality assurance and service to humanity.

At the event, which held at NAAT Secretariat at the University of Abuja, the NAAT President applauded the TETFund boss for his interventions in the tertiary education sub-sector, especially as it relates to the association. This, he said, has seen the establishment of new laboratories, upgrade of existing ones and scholarships for NAAT members, among others.

“We want to commend you over the circular for our members to also enjoy scholarship awards. We are deeply grateful to you,” he said.
Receiving the award, Echono stated that such recognition would further spur the management of the Fund into more actions.
He expressed profound gratitude to NAAT for the award, stating that the interventionist agency remains committed to supporting the development of public tertiary educational institutions across the country.

And going by the activities of the Fund since he assumed office, there is no ambiguity that Echono has been able to match words with actions.
Since his appointment, Echono has maintained that the future of education is inextricably tied to advances in technology and this ideology has guided his commitment towards technological advancement in tertiary institutions across the world.

He pointed out that NAAT members however played a central role in this transformation.
Echono reiterated the commitment of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration in shifting emphasis to skills, adding that innovation, entrepreneurship and new ideas would drive the future of education in the country.

The TETFund boss assured that the agency would ensure that the association gets the requisite tools, knowledge and facilities to work with.
His words: “We are grateful to the Almighty. It is an affirmation of the modest efforts that TETFund is making to transform the Nigerian education system. And this is to fulfill Mr. President’s mandate to focus on skills to equip Nigerian children with the relevant knowledge and skill so that through innovation and entrepreneurship, they will be able to make meaningful contributions to this economy as employers of labour. Such will also position them to create wealth and not just seeking employment, and we believe that the steps we are taking will take us there.”

Echono added that the National Association of Academic Technologists played a central role “because they are the ones in charge of our laboratories and workshops across our various institutions.”

“We have embarked on a programme as they all acknowledged; we have teams going round all our institutions to assess the resource infrastructure, to assess the quality of equipment that we have in our workshops, to ensure that we have steady electricity to power some of these critical laboratories in our campuses.

“Mr. President has approved a significant intervention for this and we intend to begin to intervene as soon as we receive the report and the prioritisation of these interventions, which would be sustained.

“We are trying to promote a linkage between our institutions and the community. They will be organising skills acquisition programmes for their host communities. Each polytechnic, for example, is identifying core areas of competencies where they want to promote. And through holiday programmes, sandwich programmes, we are going to take people away from the streets and they will earn a living and feed themselves and their families.

“There are so many skill areas where we are not even paying adequately. We want to fill those skill gaps. We don’t need to have artisans coming from other countries to work in our construction industries,” Echono added.
The TETFund boss also announced the production of sponsorship of NAAT journal as part of the Fund’s interventions in the association.

“TETFund will sponsor the production of professional journals and magazines as well as those by bodies such as your own. I want to assure you on behalf of our management that this publication will receive TETFund’s funding because this is a collective will of all the practitioners and technologists in our academic environment.

“So, a document that is edited by you, produced by you for your use and for your students cannot be faulted. TETFund will therefore support the sustenance of this journal in the same way we are supporting several professional journals,” he stated.

In 2022, Echono not only received the National Honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) from immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari but also bagged an award as Fellow of the Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning (NAEP), among several accolades and recognitions from Nigeria and beyond, in appreciation of the values he brings to bear on the nation’s tertiary education sector.