The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) revealed that more than 137 students sponsored abroad by the fund have absconded.
Echono made this statement during his appearance before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the alleged mismanagement of N2.3 trillion in tertiary education tax by TETFund.
He emphasized that these scholars, who were sponsored by TETFund for higher education programs abroad, have chosen not to return to the country after completing their studies.
The Executive Secretary 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 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.”
Echono stated that TETFund is collaborating with stakeholders to implement “stringent and effective measures” against those who choose not to return to the country. The aim is to ensure that Nigerians can benefit from their expertise and contributions to the nation’s development.
“We believe that in a system where we work with our embassies and institutions, we can enforce the repayment for those who insist they will not come back,” he said.
He further emphasized that scholars who opt not to return to the country and fail to repay the money invested in their programs will be declared persona non grata.
Echono said, “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 program must come back.
“We are not against people looking for greener pastures, but do so on your own, not through our scholarship or our sponsorship.”
The Executive Secretary mentioned that TETFund is considering the suspension of foreign scholarships due to the ongoing exchange rate crisis.
Echono explained that while some taxes are paid to TETFund in foreign currencies and deposited in an account with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the apex bank requires TETFund to source Forex independently when it comes to paying fees for scholars studying abroad. This situation has added complexities and challenges in managing foreign scholarships.
He added, “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.”
He said most of our training will now be done locally through “our experienced, first-generation universities and other specialized universities” in the country.
“This way we can retain our resources in-house and cope with the change of foreign exchange variation,” he added.
