As controversy deepens over the alleged mismanagement of the Federal Government’s student loan scheme, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, will today (Tuesday) meet with Vice-Chancellors and heads of tertiary institutions accused of misappropriating funds disbursed through the scheme.
Top on the agenda for the meeting is the training of bursars and Information Communication Technology heads from these institutions to ensure the smooth running of the programme.
The ministry will also launch a compliance tracking webpage to foster transparency and accountability in loan disbursement.
The student loan scheme has come under intense scrutiny following allegations by the National Orientation Agency that some institutions, in collaboration with banks, have been making fraudulent deductions from student loan disbursements.
Last week, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission said its preliminary probe revealed that while NELFUND had released N100bn as stundents loan, N71bn is accounted for.
These allegations triggered a wave of outrage, culminating in a protest on Monday by members of the National Association of Nigerian Students, who blocked the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The students, led by the NANS Ogun Joint Campus Committee Chairman, Gabriel Abiola, decried irregularities in the disbursement of the funds.
“We are demanding proper accountability in the student loan programme. The issue is affecting Nigerian students, especially students from my state. Many of our students applied for the loan, and it has been approved, but it has not been disbursed to them, and they are not allowing some of the students to write the exam,” Abiola said.
He continued, “We raised the alarm over the issue about a month ago, asking the ICPC to set up an investigative committee, and we were aware that the ICPC disclosed that out of the over N100bn disbursed, only N28bn was released to the students. We demand that the President, Bola Tinubu, gear up the ICPC and EFCC to investigate the matter, and the ICPC should release the names of the 51 institutions that they have identified so that we will know the enemies of Nigerian students.”
Abiola warned that protests would persist if authorities failed to act: “We have sent our message, and they are all aware. If they fail to yield to our demands, we will not hesitate to continue with the protest.”
The protest caused a temporary disruption to traffic before being called off following intervention by the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, who engaged with the demonstrators and appealed for calm.
A statement from the command’s spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, read, “The demonstrators barricaded the expressway, causing a temporary disruption to vehicular movement. Their primary grievances included the lack of transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the Federal Government Tertiary Education Trust Fund, meant for student loans. Protesters also decried the rising cost of tuition and called for improvements in learning conditions and facilities across tertiary institutions.”
She added that “no incidents of violence were reported during the protest,” and that the students later met with the Commissioner at the State Command Headquarters in Eleweran for further dialogue.
