By Kabiru Abdulrauf.
A disturbing wave of unethical practices has come to light regarding the Federal Government Student Loan Scheme, as recent investigations reveal that some tertiary institutions and banks are conspiring to short-change Nigerian students.
According to a damning report released by the Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMO) under the National Orientation Agency (NOA), several institutions of higher learning, in collaboration with certain banks, have deliberately withheld critical information and delayed disbursements of student loans for personal gain.
The findings were made public by Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director General of the NOA, following a closed-door meeting with Akintunde Sawyerr, Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), over the weekend.
The report sheds light on a pattern of misconduct, with university officials allegedly failing to inform students that loan payments had been successfully made on their behalf. In some cases, institutions received the disbursements directly into their accounts but neither recorded the transactions in their financial systems nor credited the students. Instead, affected students were still required to pay tuition out-of-pocket, leading to double payments and growing confusion.
“Recent findings by NELFUND have shown that some institutions have received student loan disbursements directly into their accounts yet neglect to inform the affected students or record the payments in their financial records,” said Mr. Sawyerr.
“Withholding critical financial information from students is not only unethical but also a breach of the principles on which NELFUND was founded. We are prepared to take legal action against any institution engaged in such deceptive practices.”
As a response, NOA has issued a stern warning to institutions and banks implicated in these underhanded dealings.
Mallam Issa-Onilu has directed NOA’s state directorates to intensify monitoring and gather direct feedback from students across the country to ensure further transparency and accountability.
“This is not just about money—it’s about trust and justice,” Issa-Onilu stated. “Educational institutions should be pillars of integrity, not instruments of exploitation. We will not tolerate this betrayal of the public’s trust and the dreams of Nigerian students.”
Paul Odenyi, Deputy Director of Communications and Media at the NOA, reiterated that all complaints would be fully investigated and necessary sanctions imposed on any institution found guilty of tampering with student loan funds.
This revelation raises serious questions about the level of transparency and accountability within Nigeria’s higher education financing system. As the government works to expand access to education through schemes like NELFUND, it faces the urgent challenge of safeguarding these efforts from being undermined by corruption and poor oversight.
For students who rely on these loans to finance their education, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
