The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has raised serious concerns over unethical practices by some tertiary institutions in the disbursement of the Federal Government’s student loans, warned that students are being deliberately shortchanged.
According to fresh feedback from the Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMO) of the NOA, several institutions of higher learning have allegedly connived with banks to delay or divert student loan funds disbursed by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Director General of the NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, made the revelation following a meeting with NELFUND Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, over the weekend. The meeting was prompted by disturbing reports from NOA’s grassroots officers, who observed a pattern of non-disclosure and financial manipulation by school authorities.
“Reports from our officers indicate that some schools are withholding critical financial information from students. In many instances, institutions receive loan disbursements into their accounts and fail to notify the students, while still asking them to pay their tuition fees,” Issa-Onilu stated.
NELFUND MD Mr. Sawyerr confirmed the malpractice, saying that the Fund has identified cases where universities did not reflect received payments in students’ records, causing confusion and frustration among beneficiaries.
“Such actions are not only unethical but also undermine the purpose of the loan initiative. We are prepared to take legal action against any institution found to be involved in such misconduct,” Sawyerr said.
In response, the NOA has instructed its state directorates to intensify student engagement and gather more reports to assist the Federal Government in taking appropriate disciplinary and legal actions against erring institutions and banks.
Mallam Issa-Onilu warned that such actions, if not checked, could erode public confidence in the student loan system and frustrate the government’s effort to expand access to education.
