The Vice Chancellor of Coal City University, Enugu, has called on the Federal Government to extend education intervention rogrammes including TETFund and NELFUND to private universities, arguing that the institutions contribute significantly to national manpower development without receiving any form of public financial support.

Professor Afam Icha Ituma made the appeal on Monday at a press briefing on the university's campus in Enugu, disclosing that the institution had already written formally to the Federal Government requesting inclusion in national education support schemes.

"We have made several requests and written a position letter requesting the Federal Government to also consider Private Universities in its very noble initiatives," Ituma stated.

The Vice Chancellor revealed that Coal City University relies entirely on its Board of Trustees for infrastructure and institutional development, with no government funding of any kind.

"Everything you see here is based on the support of the Board of Trustees. We don't have any support in terms of finance or anything whatsoever, and that is not too good, given that we are providing human resources for the broader labour market," he noted.

Ituma expressed particular frustration over the exclusion of private university students from the NELFUND student loan scheme, saying the institution had been optimistic that the policy would be revised following stakeholder engagements.

"We were very optimistic that the issue would be revisited. Unfortunately, we were disappointed when it was stated that students of private institutions are not eligible to benefit from NELFUND. We find that very discouraging," he said.

He argued that opening the loan scheme to private university students would allow more financially disadvantaged but qualified candidates to access higher education, and urged both federal and state governments to review the current policy. He also appealed for tax reliefs and other incentives for private institutions.

On a separate matter, Ituma addressed reports of an altercation between a student and a staff member, stating that the University had already initiated disciplinary procedures before the incident circulated on social media. Management suspended all staff and students directly involved, constituted an independent review committee and commenced a broader policy review covering student welfare, staff conduct, campus safety and grievance management.

He dismissed reports of academic disruption, insisting that teaching and administrative operations at the university remained fully uninterrupted.