The Congress of College Teachers (CONUA) has known as on the Federal Authorities to probe all universities and Vice Chancellors accused of mismanaging funds launched to them by the Nigerian Schooling Mortgage Fund (NELFund) for the advantage of college students who keyed into the scheme.
The group additionally demanded that the identities of such establishments and their management be made public and duly sanctioned if discovered responsible of the allegations. CONUA raised the priority in a press release by its Nationwide President, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, which was made out there to reporters.
“We’re deeply involved that some establishments allegedly denied receiving funds disbursed to them by NELFund on behalf of their college students, whereas others reportedly deposited the funds in interest-yielding financial institution accounts, actions that contravene the foundations governing the usage of the funds.”
The group described such motion as fraudulent and a deliberate try to subvert a noble scheme designed to advertise entry to larger schooling and ease the monetary burden on struggling college students and their households.
“That’s the reason, to us, it’s disheartening that whereas the federal government is trying to enhance fairness and entry in schooling, some educational managers are reportedly undermining these efforts for private achieve. It’s disappointing that the federal government is but to call and disgrace the establishments and people concerned publicly,” CONUA said.
The group, nonetheless, maintained that the allegations should not be swept beneath the carpet. It famous that in a rustic the place impunity has continued to undermine nationwide improvement, exposing wrongdoing serves each as a deterrent to potential offenders and as a needed punishment for these already complicit.
“Much more disheartening is that such acts are being perpetrated inside the partitions of our larger establishments, which ought to signify integrity, character-building, and nationwide service. He frowned at a scenario the place these charged with shaping the minds and morals of future leaders are allegedly concerned in monetary misconduct.
To handle the problem, the union known as for an instantaneous unbiased probe of all implicated establishments and people. It urged anti-graft businesses such because the Financial and Monetary Crimes Fee (EFCC) to take up the matter and be sure that these discovered culpable—whether or not establishments or people, are uncovered and punished.
Sunmonu stated it is usually essential to determine oversight mechanisms involving monitoring groups, comprising related stakeholders inside the system, to trace the disbursement and utilisation of scholar loans throughout varied universities.
“College students should even be educated about their rights concerning the mortgage scheme and protected against monetary extortion by their colleges. Moral reorientation is equally required to make sure that college management in Nigeria is clear and accountable,” he famous.
The group, nonetheless, pledged its continued dedication to selling integrity, fairness, and justice in Nigeria’s public college system, arguing that that is the one path to true nationwide prosperity.
