Nigeria’s Universities’ lecturers studying abroad under Tertiary Education Trust Fund(TETFUND) sponsorship have appealed for the President Bola Tinubu’s intervention over their unpaid bailout fund.
The scholars under the aegis of Omitted Foreign Scholars (OFS) made the plea in a save our soul letter dated June 6, 2024 to President Tinubu.
The Chairman of the Foreign Scholars, Kamal Odunjo-Saka lamented that 45% of scholars studying under the TETFUND sponsorship programme were omitted in the disbursement of funds.
Odunjo-Saka noted that the development had subjected the affected scholars to unfavourable harsh conditions amidst the prevailing global economic realities.
He said TETFund refused to pay them on the excuse that they were not qualified, based on programme status, when they were approached, asserting that there was no segregation of scholars or any discrepancies during the agreement of conditions for bailout.
He explained that they had witnessed instances where TETFund paid scholars who even completed their programme as early as 2022 and yet refused to pay the scholars currently under its sponsorship and those that recently completed their programme which as a result run into financial crises.
The letter reads in part: “I am writing on behalf of all the Tertiary Education Trust Fund sponsored foreign scholars who were omitted from the payment of the recently approved Presidential Bailout to all TETFund foreign scholars within the year 2017 – 2023.
“Initially, the bailout was designed as a measure to cushion the effects of the COVID-19, Naira devaluation/exchange rate, and particularly, inflation in the cost of living on scholars, hence the reason for the timeframe under review (2017 – 2023) considering that scholars within this period are grossly affected.
“We sincerely appreciate the generous bailout approved by Mr. President, His Excellence, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as this would alleviate the burden on Scholars. However, our confidence in the fair implementation of the disbursement has been severed
“Currently, about 45 percent of the TETFund sponsored foreign scholars were omitted in the disbursement of the presidential-approved bailout by TETFund, subjecting scholars to harsh conditions amidst the current economic realities.
“While we tried to engage TETFund to ensure fairness in the disbursement, scholars were told that some are not qualified, based on programme status, while our recent request for engagement was turned down by the Fund. Meanwhile, both scholars on their programme and those recently completed were unjustly omitted without any tangible justification provided.
“Initially, there were no segregation of scholars or any discrepancies during the agreement of conditions for bailout. Also, both ongoing and completed Scholars were paid during the first and second tranches of the disbursed bailout paid between January to March 2024.
“This includes scholars across Europe, Asia, America and other part of the globe, while TETFund refused to pay fellow scholars in the same categories with no concrete justification.
“Additionally, we strongly believe that the alien criteria of ongoing and completed does not hold through in the case of scholars due to many reasons, including the fact that all scholars under review are affected by COVID-19 or Naira devaluation”.
Odunjo Saka appealed to Tinubu to use his good office to speak with relevant authorities and ensure disbursement of the bailout fund to the affected scholars without further delays.