If Nigeria had been under military rule, Sonny Togo Echono, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), would have most likely been known as the “action administrator.” Over the course of several years and decades, Nigeria’s governance vocabulary benefited from various additions and infusions from successive military regimes. One such remedy that rose to and maintained prominence in public discourse in the past was “Action Governor.” It was used to describe proactive, possibly overbearing military superintendents who approached public service. Mobolaji Johnson, David Bamigboye, Robert Adebayo, and Osaigbovo Ogbemudia, all Army Colonels who oversaw Lagos, Kwara, Western, and Midwestern states, were all named Action Governors for their contributions to the advancement of infrastructure development in respective states of jurisdiction. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) current chairman, Mohammed Buba Marwa, a Brigadier-General who oversaw Lagos State from 1996 to 1999, was also highly distinguished.
Marwa took the lead in crime prevention, health facility renovation, and road rehabilitation. As a crime containment tactic, he established a combined military and police task force called Operation Sweep, which was successfully embraced by numerous other states. His title as a “action administrator” completed all of these. Several other states followed Marwa’s example, most notably Oyo under Colonel Ahmed Usman and his counterpart from Kogi State, Bzigu Lassa Afakirya, who instigated Operation Gbale (the Yoruba word for sweeping) and Operation Hot Chase, respectively. Because he spoke the word “action” with a Yoruba accent, Raji Rasaki, a former military administrator of Lagos State, also gained the nickname “akson” governor. He is renowned for his extensive demolition of illegal buildings, which greatly reduced the number of slums and shantytowns in Lagos. This would then have an effect on the state’s real estate market.
Echono has proven to be able to speak tough and follow through with similar resoluteness ever since he was appointed to his current position a little more than three years ago. Echono has made an effort to emphasize that a new sheriff is working at TETFUND at every chance. His reformation agenda started with a series of encounters with the organization’s powerful cabals, who had taken over the authority to decide contract awards. In the early years of the current democratic era, Echono was among the first civil servants to be put through the paces of a new public procurement and due process regime, which will change our memories. During his numerous “bus stops” in public service, which included multiple ministries prior to his current schedule, he has “preached the gospel.” Regardless of how the establishment responds, he has never been discouraged.
He developed unplanned enemies as a result of his insistence on changes and reorientation. In response to Echono’s new doctrine, “victims” launched a fierce media campaign against him in an effort to skew the story. The national legislature was tasked with handling the war after receiving multiple petitions accusing Echono of massive financial violations and corruption. Anti-corruption organizations, particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), were naturally interested in the negative information coming from TETFUND. Every time TETFUND’s systems and his personal profile were subjected to the rigorous serial integrity testing, Echono received positive test results and clean bills of health, much to the dismay of his translators. This was Echono’s experience when he took action to halt the bazaar that was already taking place in TETFUND while he was in charge.
Echono has subsequently swung the heavy stick for academics who choose to “defraud” the government after taking advantage of the government’s goodwill by offering scholarships and grants to study abroad. Some instructors and lecturers from various universities have benefited greatly from government support for postsecondary education overseas. They are typically expected to return to Nigeria and continue serving their major employers in order to pay back to the system that provided them with such largesse. On the other hand, some students frequently use bad currency to pay back the government, who are their sponsors. They run away or, as it were, “defect.” Echono has now stated that the government will no longer play Santa Claus in light of the nation’s current economic circumstances, which are influenced by inflation and currency devaluation.
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Instead, the government would now encourage the development of its intellectuals’ and researchers’ domestic capacity. For example, Nigerian military institutes provide basic and advanced training to military leaders from numerous international nations. Foreign students make up a small percentage of almost every graduating class from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) or Nigerian Defence College (NDC). Why wouldn’t home-based institutions that have been retooled and recalibrated offer advanced training to indigenous scholars as well? Indeed, Nigerian scholars make up the faculty at numerous universities and training centers worldwide. These include popular travel destinations such as South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Nigeria can look inward so that, within reasonable financial constraints, seasoned Nigerian academics and technocrats at home can influence their colleagues who want advanced exposure and retraining.
Echono has also carried out forensic investigations into the size of postsecondary educational institutions in relation to the funds that they are entitled to. Echono finds it odd that some colleges have far fewer students than a pitiful 100 in a milieu where the population of some citadels hovers around the five-figure mark! An anxious Echono once brought up the particular instance of a polytechnic that had only 30 students, had been in operation for four years, and was still receiving government financing. He believes that such an example is incompatible with the government’s goals as expressed through the TETFUND. He pointed out that accountability is also crucial when allocating funds. Unused money will be retrieved and transferred to schools with higher performance indices if they are found in the accounts of benefiting institutions. Echono’s frequent warnings against abandoned projects in the country’s public tertiary institutions are as forceful. Under his supervision, such unsightly stumps in institutional landscapes and monuments to trash will no longer be accepted.
More recently, Echono issued a warning to TETFUND-administered institutions about the misuse and abuse of intervention funds. During a two-day strategic training for directors of academic planning, physical planning, and information and communications technology that started in Abuja on Monday, July 7, 2025, Echono issued a warning: if resources are misused, defaulting institutions will be delisted. By filling in procedural gaps and making sure that institutions are fully aware of the agency’s intervention guidelines, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting the country’s tertiary education system. The head of the TETFUND stated that poor performance and poor management will not be tolerated. Echono reaffirmed that “institutions that underperform in key academic or operational benchmarks, or those that fail to access, use, or retire funds in accordance with TETFUND guidelines, may be delisted.”
Echono has elevated the standard with his thoughtful interventions in a public service that is typically perceived as dreary, uninspired, and tepid. Regular interactions and interfaces with important tertiary education mill operators have been hallmarks of his administration style. Previously, the only frequent attendees at meetings with the leadership of TETFUND were vice chancellors, rectors, and provosts at the top of universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. However, the Echono milieu has broadened the range of engagements. Under Echono’s direction, TETFUND has also gained the support of other important players in the tertiary institutions’ top structure, particularly the heads of the administrative, finance, and developmental departments. The meeting room in the organization’s Abuja headquarters building is constantly bustling with activity. All of them aim to improve the nation’s tertiary education system’s performance and provide it with the skilled labor required to propel growth and development.
Future research will focus on Echono’s metamorphosis because he was a dedicated public servant who gained his start in the very center of the bureaucracy, where he excelled for three and a half decades prior to his current portfolio. He began working for the federal government in 1987 and left in early 2022. He served in a number of ministries over his years in service, holding a variety of positions and responsibilities. We are informed that “civil servants can be seen but their voices are not to be heard” is the rulebook of the civil service. That similar system gave rise to Echono. However, his current work description has encouraged him to continue serving the country by bringing out his more outspoken and forthright personality.
*Olusunle, PhD, FANA, an adjunct professor of creative writing at the University of Abuja, is a Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors (FANA).
