The planned emergency meeting between Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Vice Chancellors of public universities regarding the federal government’s students’ loan scheme was unexpectedly cancelled.
The meeting, which was set to take place at the Federal Ministry of Education’s headquarters in Abuja, had been scheduled to discuss key issues surrounding the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). However, to the surprise of attendees and the media, the event did not take place. Those who had gathered to cover the meeting were informed that it had been called off, but no reason was provided for the sudden change in plans.
According to Beriowo Folasade, the Director of Information and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, the minister rescheduled the meeting, but no new date has been confirmed. She explained, “The meeting scheduled to hold today with the vice chancellors of universities has been cancelled. No new date has been fixed, but I will inform the media once a new date is decided upon.”
This meeting was supposed to address concerns raised by students and university authorities about alleged illegal deductions from students’ loans. Last week, Dr. Alausa had announced that the meeting would focus on thoroughly investigating these claims, ensuring accountability, and upholding the Ministry’s strict stance against financial malpractice in the education sector.
The cancellation has left many stakeholders, including students and university officials, eager for clarification on the next steps and timeline for resolving the issues related to the students’ loan scheme.
