Recent investigations into the disbursement of the Federal Government Student Loan Fund have uncovered several unethical practices by some institutions of higher learning.

According to the latest report by the Community Orientation and Mobilisation Officers (COMO), of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), schools and banks are conspiring to short-change the students.

Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, the Director General of the NOA, announced the findings after meeting with NELFUND Managing Director, Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, over the weekend. Initial reports indicated that certain university officials have been withholding vital information regarding loan disbursements, prompting immediate action from NELFUND.

The NOA’s feedback shows how specific institutions have, in connivance with some banks, deliberately delayed payments to successful student applicants for personal financial benefit. Some universities fail to acknowledge the NELFUND’s disbursements to the students. Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr confirmed that some institutions are failing to inform students about loan disbursements made in their name while still requiring them to pay tuition fees.

He stated, “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 has issued a strong warning to these institutions and collaborating banks to cease such activities.

NOA has directed its state directorates to provide further feedback from students across the country to ensure that the Federal Government takes appropriate actions against erring schools and banks.

Barely a week after Ekwutosblog reported that the management of the Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma, lamented over the continuous payment of a monthly minimum wage of N18,000 to the institution’s workers, the Edo State Government has approved a N70,000 minimum wage package for the staff.

Ekwutosblog reports that the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University, Chief Dan Orbih, disclosed this after the Council’s 235th Regular Meeting held between April 3 and April 4, 2025.

A statement by Mike Ade Aladenika, Principal Assistant Registrar and Head of Information and Public Relations of the institution, dated April 10, 2025, and made available to newsmen in Benin City, said the leadership and members of various functional unions at the university commended the Governing Council for the welfare package.

Aladenika said the unions noted that the approval of the N70,000 monthly minimum wage was long overdue.

Ekwutosblog had on March 28, 2025 reported that the management of the state-owned university lamented that staff of the institution are still receiving N18,000 minimum wage as against the N70,000 approved for workers in the Edo State public service by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki.

The Principal Assistant Registrar/Head of Information and Public Relations of the institution, Mike Ade Aladenika, who had decried the development in a chat with newsmen in Benin City, noted that all agitations to ensure that the workers benefit from the N70,000 minimum wage approved by the government were not successful.

“I will make bold to tell you that workers in AAU as of today are still on N18,000 minimum wage while other civil servants are on N70,000. All agitations with the past government were to no avail,” he said.

The unions’ leaders, however, unanimously expressed appreciation for the Council’s approval of the minimum wage to be at par with colleagues in the state’s public service.

“Under the previous administration, our efforts to ensure the implementation of the minimum wage were unsuccessful, and union leaders faced victimization for advocating better worker welfare.

“But today, the unions did not pressurize the current Governing Council before the approval. This highlighted the Council’s proactive approach to addressing staff concerns,” he added.

The university image maker said the Governing Council had assured staff and students of “well-thought-out policies” to reshape the institution’s fortune for the better.

He said that the chairman of the Governing Council, Dan Orbih while speaking after the Council’s 235th Regular Meeting, added that the Council approved the N70,000 new minimum wage as recommended by the National Universities Commission.

He said the new minimum wage takes immediate effect.

“This move comes after staff members faced challenges under the previous administration, including non-implementation of the approved minimum wage and other welfare benefits”, he stated.

He, however, urged the staff to rededicate themselves to their duties, promising further benefits for dedicated employees.

Nigerian govt not applying statistics in national planning, resource allocations – Nwabueze

The government’s attitude, according to her, negatively affects national planning, the economy, allocation of scarce resources and also affects the electoral system.

Nwabueze, who stated this while delivering the 58th Inaugural Lecture of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State on Wednesday, said that inaccurate application of statistics had negatively affected the Nigerian electoral system and also encouraged electoral malpractices in many instances.

She lamented that statistics, which are important to every field and household, are not receiving deserved attention from the government unlike what obtains in the Western World.

“What is different between our government and the Western government is that Western government, they make use of data, they make use of statistics.

“If our government will listen to us and make use of statistics, then we will be better off,” she stated.

The 58th Inaugural Lecturer, who called for a prudent electoral system in the country, said that anomaly of number of cast votes being higher than registered voters in Nigeria during elections can be obliterated with the right use of statistics.

“My colleagues in the University of Ibadan carried out a research on the last election in Nigeria and they were able to bring out the discrepancy between the registered voters and what they observed in the field, and it was loud,” she added.

She faulted the Federal government’s much reliance on data released by the National Bureau for Statistics, saying that it had not produced the much desired results.

Nwabueze, who is also a Professor of Econometrics, recalled how Army officers whisked her to safety after some thugs attempted to set her office ablaze during a previous election because she refused to allow manipulated result figures to be included, when she worked as a Returning Officer in the Northern part of Abia State.