Student loan: Some tertiary institutions are cheating students, says NOA
Recent findings from the National Orientation Agency (NOA) have uncovered that certain universities and financial institutions are working together to cheat students out of their entitled Federal Government Student Loan Funds.
This was revealed in a new report shared by the Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMO) of NOA.
The Director General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, made the announcement following a recent meeting with the Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, held over the weekend.
Early indications revealed that some university staff were deliberately hiding important details about the disbursement process, prompting NELFUND to intervene quickly.
According to feedback from the NOA, some schools have been found to work with certain banks to intentionally delay the release of funds to approved student applicants for selfish reasons.
In some cases, universities refuse to officially acknowledge the loans sent by NELFUND to the students.
Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr confirmed that some institutions do not inform their students about loans paid on their behalf, even though they continue to demand full tuition fees.
He said, “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, leading to unnecessary confusion.”
“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.”
In response, Mallam Issa-Onilu gave a clear warning to these universities and the banks they collaborate with to stop such dishonest behavior immediately.
NOA has now instructed all its state offices to gather more input from students nationwide so that the federal government can take suitable measures against the involved institutions and banks.
