• Block Lagos-Ibadan highway, demand presidential probe
From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), yesterday, blocked the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Camp section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to protest the alleged mismanagement of N100 billion funds allocated to the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
The blockage of both sides of the busiest highways in the country by the protesting students caused a gridlock as vehicular movement was halted for more than one hour.
In a text jointly signed by the National Vice President, Inter-Campus and Gender Affairs of NANS and the Ogun State Chairman of NANS, Akinbodunse Sileola Felicia and Gabriel Abiola Francis, respectively, it explained that students were mobilised to block the expressway to goad President Bola Tinubu to take decisive action on the graft discovered in the disbursement of student loans.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in a statement by its spokesperson, Demola Bakare, last Thursday, said the anti-graft agency had launched a comprehensive investigation into discrepancies in the NELFUND student loan disbursements.
Bakare added that the probe was as a result of reports implicating 51 tertiary institutions in unauthorised deductions of N3,500 to N30,000 from students’ institutional fees funded by NELFUND.
He noted further that preliminary findings revealed a significant gap in the financial records of the disbursement process.
While the Federal Government reportedly allocated N100 billion, only N28.8 billion reached students, leaving N71.2 billion unaccounted for.
Bakare further informed that the ICPC’s Chairman, Special Task Force, acted swiftly, inviting stakeholders, including the Director General of the Budget Office, the Accountant General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria officials, and NELFUND’s CEO and Executive Director for documentation and interviews.
The investigation revealed NELFUND received N203.8 billion as of March 19, 2024, comprising N10billion from the Federation Allocation Account Committee, N50 billion from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and two N71.9 billion tranches from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
Meanwhile, only N44.2 billion was disbursed to 299 institutions, benefiting 293,178 students. With these findings, the ICPC spokesperson confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies had been established and the probe would now extend to institutions and individual recipients.
NANS, during the protest yesterday, however, decried the gross misconduct and humongous corruption in the disbursement of education loans to students of tertiary institutions in the country, calling for a presidential probe into the financial recklessness.
He disclosed that the students’ body had earlier rung the alarm bell and called the attention of Mr President and the appropriate anti-graft agencies to the alleged unethical practice in the disbursement of the student loans.
He, however, expressed dismay that such a laudable initiative by the incumbent administration under the leadership of President Tinubu, to make life easier for the common students, had been corrupted and smeared by the so-called ‘Nigerian factor.’
“Receiving news of the unspeakable atrocities and financial complicity by those saddled with the responsibility of disbursing the student loans, however, instigated NANS to mobilise and block the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, to call on the president to initiate a clinical probe into the NELFUND activities since establishment.
“We demand that the presidency should take it upon itself to launch a massive investigation into these financial discrepancies and mismanagement of the fund earmarked for the loan.
“If out of the N100 billion released to fund the student loan, N71.2billion cannot be accounted for, that is huge and a stark graft that must be investigated accordingly.
“As a student body, we hereby call President Tinubu to take charge and ensure that anyone found culpable in unethical practices is made to face the music.
“The president should not hesitate to wield the big stick and sanction the erring officials accordingly, irrespective of who is involved. No one should be treated as a sacred cow in this matter, which to us is a national disaster and international embarrassment for our nation.
“Furthermore, we demand that the ICPC should publish the names of the 51 tertiary institutions involved in the unauthorised deductions from the institutional fees funded by NELFUND. This is to know the identity of institutions sabotaging efforts put in place to ameliorate the financial burden of our members.
“To us, such tertiary institutions are enemies of progress and anti-student, hence, NANS will not hesitate to declare them persona non grata.
“The blocking of this expressway is not to cause pains for motorists and commuters deliberately, but to goad Mr President into taking decisive action on this anomaly, anathema and wanton corruption going on in NELFUND.
“The President should not sit idly knowing that the milk formula of the baby his administration birthed is being gulped down by the wet nurses and custodians he put in charge to feed the baby.
“NANS shall not rest on its oars until it sees that justice is served on this matter. We will continue to mobilise our members across the country to vociferously condemn this act of sabotage and brazen corruption,” Gabriel submitted.