THE Proprietor of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State, Chief AbdulRaheem Oladimeji, has urged the Federal Government to allow privately-owned universities have access to the Education Tax Fund (ETF) and Tertiary Education Tax Fund (TETFUND).

Oladimeji said such financial assistance would cushion the effects of heavy running cost being shouldered by proprietors of private universities in the country.

The business tycoon told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, at the maiden edition of Inter-university Qur'an Recitation and Memorisation Competition hosted by the university.

He added that these funds were drawn mainly from the organised private sector (OPS) of which the owners of these private universities are contributors.

Denying private institutions the benefits accruing there from would be unjust, especially considering the roles of these universities in bridging the gap in the yearly university admission search by millions of youths, he said.

Oladimeji appraised the entrepreneurship programmes of Al-Hikmah University and expressed the hope that graduates of the university would develop their potentials and skills acquisition drive which the institution offers them to be job providers, rather than job seekers.