Federal Government Disburses N3.8 Billion to Support Stranded Nigerian Scholars AbroaFederal Government Disburses N3.8 Billion to Support Stranded Nigerian Scholars Abroad
The Federal Government has announced the disbursement of N3.8 billion to aid Nigerian scholars stranded abroad in recent years.
This disclosure was made by Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), during a visit from the House of Representatives Committee on TETFund on Thursday.
Echono revealed that the fund has provided financial support to 1,500 scholars, totaling N3.8 billion.
Addressing concerns about delays in scholarship payments, he attributed these issues to recent increases in foreign exchange rates, which have impacted scholars in countries such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
“These concerns were brought to the attention of the National Assembly, the Presidential Villa, the Ministry of Education, and TETFund,” Echono said. He noted that the positive response led to the President’s approval for a bailout to assist the affected scholars.
Echono explained that funding was previously sent directly to institutions, which were then responsible for remitting the funds to students.
However, this process often faced delays. “For various reasons, many institutions complained that processing the transfers through the central bank took a significant amount of time,” he stated. To address this, TETFund now pays the institutions directly as part of its intervention strategy.
Additionally, Echono highlighted improvements in Nigeria’s performance in securing research grants.
The country has advanced from 9th to 7th position in Africa in this area, indicating significant progress in research funding efforts.
