JAPA: Over 137 sponsored international students vanished – TETFUND

Over 137 of the trust fund’s sponsored students who went abroad, according to the executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, vanished.

When Echono appeared before the House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee on Tuesday to discuss the alleged mismanagement of N2.3 trillion in tertiary education tax by TETFund, Echono made a statement.

He emphasised that after completing their programmes, the TETFund-sponsored scholars who were sent abroad for “higher education” have refused to come back.

“Some of the sponsored scholars, unpatriotically when they go, enjoy our scholarship, earn a higher degree, then refuse to return, it has become a major crisis,” the executive secretary stated.

“The scholarship demands that you return. You must have a guarantor, who frequently experiences undue hardship because, in the event of your disappearance, we hold them responsible for paying all expenses incurred on your behalf.

In order for Nigerians to benefit from the expertise of those who refuse to return to the country, Echono stated that TETFund is collaborating with stakeholders to take “stringent and effective measures” against them.

“We believe that in a system where we work with our embassies and the institutions, we can enforce the repayment for those who insist they will not come back,” the man said.

He continued by saying that students who don’t want to return home will be deemed persona non grata if they don’t pay back the money used to fund their programmes.

We’ll write to the embassies, and if they make it available to those countries, they won’t be able to find employment, Echono declared. They’ll be regarded as extradition candidates from their home nations.

“Given the alarming numbers, we might have to adopt that tough stance. We recently checked over 40 institutions and 137 fugitives, and the review is still in progress.

We will be asking for your help to toughen some of the current regulations to make sure that those who benefit from this programme must return because it is a huge number that we cannot afford.

We have nothing against people seeking out better opportunities, but please do so independently and without using our sponsorship or scholarship.

According to the Executive Secretary, the exchange rate crisis may force TETFund to halt funding for international scholarships.

Echono claimed that while some taxes are paid to TETFund in foreign currencies at the account held with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex bank mandates that TETFUND source foreign exchange on its own when fees are due for scholars studying abroad.

“We operate a system where our foreign exchange is sold on our behalf at an official rate and we apply like anyone else to get it, sometimes it results in additional cost,” he continued.

We are currently in discussions with all of our stakeholders to halt foreign training for a year or two, as I speak.

“This is as a result of the most recent changes to exchange rates. Our disbursement policies prevent us from continuing.

“The amount of dollars needed for training is greater than the amount of naira we have allocated. For those who are already residing there, we currently require more naira in order to cover the required dollar amount for their annual fees. We’re attempting to place a hold.

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According to him, “our experienced, first-generation universities and other specialised universities” in the nation will now handle the majority of our training.

This way, he continued, “we can keep our resources in-house and manage the change of foreign exchange variation.”

Echono added that the federal government currently owns N371.3 billion of the TETFund, of which it has already repaid N46 billion.

Additionally, he refuted claims that TETFund mismanaged the N2.3 trillion fund.

Oluwole Oke, the committee’s chairman, added that the lawmakers’ goal is to stop the misuse of public funds and emphasised that the investigation is not a witch hunt.