The Federal Government has announced that it disbursed N3.8 billion to support Nigerian scholars stranded abroad in recent years.
This was revealed by Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), during a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on TETFund in Abuja on Thursday.
Echono stated that the Fund has supported 1,500 scholars with this N3.8 billion allocation. Addressing concerns about delays in scholarship payments, he explained that the recent rise in foreign exchange rates had affected scholars in countries like the United Kingdom and Malaysia. These issues were reported to the National Assembly, the Presidential Villa, the Ministry of Education, and TETFund.
“We were pleased with the positive response, which allowed us to secure the President’s approval for a bailout or assistance,” Echono said. He pointed out that a significant challenge was the previous practice of sending funds directly to institutions, which then remitted them to students. However, delays often occurred in processing these transfers to the central bank. To remedy this, TETFund now pays institutions directly.
