Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director-general (DG) of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), says anti-corruption agencies have been on notice to monitor some tertiary institutions that are colluding with banks to sabotage the student loan scheme.
On Monday, the NOA, through its community orientation and mobilisation officers (COMO), said some tertiary institutions were found to be conspiring with banks to unfairly disadvantage students benefiting from the loan scheme.
In an interview on Arise Television on Tuesday, Issa-Onilu said some higher institutions, in addition to colluding with banks to secure tuition funds, are also imposing processing fees before certifying applicants.
“We also heard of some schools that charge some fees, processing or so-called fees, for the students to access the funds. Something that you played no role in,” he said.
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“We see a lot of students complaining that it is only after they have made payment that they discover that NELFUND has paid for the tuition. And schools did not inform them.
“We had to relate to NELFUND, and we found out it was not news to NELFUND, and NELFUND was actually dealing with the issues already.
“As I speak, the anti-corruption agencies have been put on notice by NELFUND. Now, students can track from application to disbursement by themselves; schools cannot do that anymore.
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“It is so sad that any institution would be involved in this kind of thing. It is like sabotaging the citizens; let’s not even talk about the government. It is about sabotaging ourselves.”
