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As the controversy deepens for the alleged bad management of the student loan regime of the Federal Government, the Minister of Education, dr. Tunji Alausa, today (Tuesday) will meet the vice-changers and the leaders of the tertiary institutions accused of undue appropriation of funds erroneously disbursed through the scheme.
The agenda for the meeting is the formation of transformation communication bags and communication technologies from these institutions to guarantee the regular correction of the program.
The Ministry will also launch a compliance monitoring web page to encourage transparency and responsibility in the provision of the loan.
The student loan regime was subjected to an intense control following accusations of the national orientation agency according to which some institutions, in collaboration with the banks, have made fraudulent deductions from student loan exercises.
Last week, the independent corrupt practices and the other related related offenses declared that his preliminary investigation revealed that while in theFund he had released N100 billion as Stundi loan, N71 billion.
These accusations triggered a wave of indignation, culminating in a protest on Monday by members of the National Association of Nigerian Students, who blocked the Lagos-Ibadan highway.
The students, led by the president of the joint committee of the Nans Ogun Campus, Gabriel Abiola, reported irregularities in the provision of funds.
“We are asking for a correct responsibility in the student loan program. The problem is hitting the Nigerian students, in particular the students of my state. Many of our students have applied for the loan, and has been approved, but has not been paid to them and do not allow some students to write the exam,” said Abiola.
He continued: “We raised the alarm for the question about a month ago, asking the ICPC to establish an Investigative Committee, and we were aware that the ICPC revealed that outside of over n100 billion did not disbursed, only n28 billion was released to the students. We ask the president, Bola Tinubu, putting around the ICPC and EFCC to investigate the matter and the ICP. to know the enemies of the Nigerian students.
ABIOLA warned that the protests will persist if the authorities had not acted: “We have sent our message and are all aware. If they cannot give in to our requests, we will not hesitate to continue with the protest”.
The protest caused a temporary interruption to traffic before being canceled following the intervention by the police commissioner of the State of Ogun, Lanre Ogunlowo, who undertaken with the protesters and appealed to calm.
A declaration of the spokesman for the command, Omolola Oditola, read: “The demonstrators barricaded the highway, causing a temporary interruption to the vehicular movements. Their primary complaints included the lack of transparency and responsibility in the conditions of learning and the applications in terms of learning the government of the government of the government, understood for student loans.
He added that “no accidents of violence were reported during the protest” and that the students subsequently met the commissioner at the headquarters of the State Command in Eleweran for further dialogues.
In the meantime, the ICPC has launched a large -scale survey on the accusations.
The preliminary results of the ICPC indicated that while in theFund it paid n100 billion for student loans, only N28.8 billion has reached the actual beneficiaries, letting the N71.2 billion had not been satisfied.
There were also accusations that some institutions have released funds to students who had already graduated, further fueling the dispute.
However, the CEO and the CEO of Nellfund, Akintunde Sawyerr, rejected the statements that was missing n71 billion.
Speaking at the seminar of a stakeholder on the automation of the system and in the elaboration of the loans in Abuja on Monday, he said: “We must join our processes. If a person has already paid their taxes in the last year and we have already paid their taxes, it is the question of which things have remained by people, it is the question that people are things in the last year.
He described the ongoing meeting and the technical seminar as “a critical milestone in the collective journey to provide a fully digitized, transparent and focused and student financial help system for Nigerian higher education”.
Speaking also to the event, the president of the student loan committee, scholarships and higher education financing, Ifeoluwa Ehindero, underlined the need to modernize the provision of the fund:
“This is essential for the success of the initiative and will do a lot to ensure that our students benefit in a timely and responsible way. While the members of the committee for the loans of the students of the House of Representatives, however, we have worked tirelessly to ensure that the legislative framework supports and facilitates these reforms. However, only legislative efforts are not sufficient.
“We need your experience, your feedback and your active participation to make sure you have a system that works for all students who require loans to institutions that manage the funds. This seminar is not only a training platform but also an opportunity for collaboration.”
Previously, the executive director of Nellfund’s operations, Iyal Mustapha, revealed that over 576,058 students had registered for the loan, with questions for a total of n170.4 billion. He urged the institutions in the South-East and South-South to intensify the awareness campaigns to ensure that eligible students apply in time.
Even speaking, Lawal Mohammed Faruk, representative of the Commission of the National Universities, described the regime as “one of the best policies of the Federal Government”, adding, “our dream is to see in theFund one day aboard all the students of the country, both public and private”.
However, in a declaration of last Thursday, the director of the strategic communications of Nellfund, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, sentenced what he called “imprecise, misleading and dangerously speculative relationships” on the regime.
He said: “The relationships, which suggested embezzlement and bad management of funds, are completely false, seriously irresponsible and deeply harmful to the integrity of an institution established to offer financial hope to millions of Nigerians”.
The dispute on the student loan continues to take place even if the Ministry of Education today summons the main parties concerned in an attempt to restore public trust and improve the delivery of the regime. [The Punch]
