Over 137 Scholars Sponsored Abroad Refused To Return – Tetfund

Over 137 scholars funded abroad by Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) have apparently gone missing, according to Sonny Echono, the agency’s Executive Secretary.

Echono stated before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged “abuse” of the N2.3 trillion tertiary education tax by TETFund that scholars sponsored by TETFund for “higher education” abroad refused to return to the country after completing their programs.

He also added that TETFund is working with partners to implement “stringent and effective measures” against people who refuse to return to Nigeria so that Nigerians can benefit from their skills. According to the TETFund ES, such individuals will be obliged to refund the funds spent on their programs or be labelled persona non grata.

Echono said: “Some of the scholars that have been sponsored, unpatriotically when they go, they enjoy our scholarship, acquire a higher degree, then refuse to come back. It has become a major crisis.

“The scholarship requires that you will come back. It is required that you have a guarantor and in many cases, the guarantor has suffered undue hardship because when you disappear, we hold the guarantor to pay all the money expended on your behalf but that has not been effective.

“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.

“We will write to the embassies and they will make it available to those countries and they will not be able to get jobs. They will be seen as fugitives of law from their countries.

“We may have to take that hard stand because the numbers are alarming. We just checked about 40 institutions and over 137 absconders and the review is ongoing.

“It is a huge number that we cannot afford and so we will be seeking your support to strengthen some of the existing regulations to ensure that those who benefit from this programme must come back.

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“We are not against people looking for greener pastures but do so on your own, not through our scholarship or our sponsorship.”

Echono further stated that because of the currency situation, they may seek overseas scholarships. He intimated that training will now be done locally through “our experienced, first-generation universities and other specialised universities” in the country.

Echono said: “We operate a system where our forex is being sold on our behalf at an official rate and we apply like anybody else to get it, sometimes it leads to additional cost.

“Currently as I speak, we are in consultations with all our stakeholders to suspend foreign training for a year or two. This is because of the recent exchange rate adjustments. We are unable to continue based on our disbursement guidelines.

“The money we allocated in naira cannot cover the dollar requirement for training. For those who are currently there, we now need more naira to pay for the dollar that is required for their annual fees. We are trying to put a hold.”

Echono also denied reports that TETFund mismanaged funds to the tune of N2.3 trillion, revealing that the federal government owes TETFund N371.3 billion, of which it has reimbursed N46 billion so far.