Connect with us

Education

UBEC Distributes Sanitary Items to Public Primary Schools in Lagos

Published

on

UBEC sanitary items

By Dipo Olowookere

Some sanitary items have been distributed to all public primary schools in Lagos State by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).

The items were shared to the beneficiaries through the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) as a result of the safety guidelines stipulated for schools reopening.

The distributed items included hand washing liquid soap, sanitisers, basins and buckets.

Also, 60 indigent pupils in each local government education authority were given battery-powered radio sets to aid participation in the learn at home radio programmes of the state government.

Chairman of LASUBEB, Mr Wahab Alawiye-King, while presenting the gifts, said that the federal and state governments were determined to be resilient in ensuring the safety of pupils and other stakeholders as the first phase of school reopening commences.

According to him, the sanitary items will not only prevent the spread of coronavirus in schools but help the pupils and teachers stay safe, appreciating the commission for facilitating and supporting the distribution of the materials.

He said the board was also complementing its planned combined learning approach by distributing battery-powered transistor radio sets to pupils for access to its interactive radio instructional programme.

The permanent board member in-charge of the co-curricular Department, Mrs Sherifat Adedoyin, said during the presentation that LASUBEB has put in place necessary safety measures by providing sanitary materials in all public primary schools in order to protect the health and wellbeing of the students, teachers and visitors.

The UBEC State Coordinator, Mr Alabi Baba Asaju, who represented the Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr Hammid Boboyi, commended the Lagos State government’s efforts at containing the pandemic and appealed to the Education Secretaries to ensure the proper usage of the materials in all public primary schools.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via dipo.olowookere@businesspost.ng

Education

NELFUND Refutes N71.2bn Student Loan Disbursement Fraud

Published

on

NELFUND

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) has denied claims of mismanagement in disbursing student loan funds.

This development comes after the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) said it was investigating alleged corruption in the disbursement of the funds.

In a statement by the fund’s Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, NELFund said ICPC’s comment was taken out of context.

“These reports, which suggest misappropriation and mismanagement of funds, are entirely false, grossly irresponsible, and deeply damaging to the integrity of an institution established to deliver financial hope to millions of Nigerians,” Mr Oluwatuyi said.

“All institutional fees are paid directly to verified institutions, while upkeep allowances go into the verified bank accounts of eligible students,” she said.

“The reports circulating in the public space are based on outdated figures and previous interventions that predate our operations.”

Equally, the ICPC has clarified its earlier statement on the student loan.

The institution’s spokesman, Mr Demola Bakare, said the agency’s move to investigate the disbursement of the funds was due to claims that 51 schools were involved in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFund scheme.

“The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients,” the agency’s statement partly read.

In an update, Mr Bakare clarified that: “Unintentionally, the word ‘NOT’ was missing in the second to the last paragraph of our earlier press release in respect of an ongoing investigation regarding the Student Loan Scheme. The missing word created an erroneous impression that the alleged discrepancies or diversion had been established.

“We admit that this is not the case, indeed, we accept that the same part of the sentence also contradicted the whole paragraph. The paragraph ought to read: ‘The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has NOT been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.’

“For avoidance of doubt, the commission has only established the total amount of funds received and disbursed so far by NELFUND. The impression of diversion and the issue of discrepancies do not exist at this stage; the investigation would have to move into the receiving institutions and persons before any reasonable deductions could be made.”

It was claimed that out of the N100 billion approved for disbursement, about N71.2 billion was unaccounted for, prompting an investigation by the ICPC.

Continue Reading

Education

NELFUND Scheme: N71.2bn Student Loans Not Missing—ICPC

Published

on

Student Loan Programme

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has clarified that it has not affirmed claims that about N71.2 billion of the N100 billion disbursed as student loans under the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) scheme were unaccounted for.

Recall that there were reports that no fewer than 51 tertiary institutions were implicated in illegal deductions and exploitation related to the NELFUND scheme.

The schools were accused of making unauthorized deductions ranging from N3,500 to N30,000 from each student’s institutional fees received through the loan fund.

The ICPC had commenced a probe into the matter and in a statement on Thursday, it said investigation revealed that the total money received by NELFUND as of March 19, 2024, was N203.8 billion, with N44.2 billion disbursed to 299 institutions, covering 293,178 students.

In the statement, ICPC said it “confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.”

Some hours later, after the revelations raised dust, the agency clarified that it made an error in the statement, noting that, “The paragraph ought to read The ICPC confirmed that a clear case of discrepancies has NOT been established in the administration of the student loan scheme and announced that its investigation will now extend to beneficiary institutions and individual student recipients.”

“The general public is urged to exercise patience as thorough investigations require time and ample resources,” the new statement signed by its spokesperson, Demola Bakare, said, stressing that, “Our investigations are still ongoing, and there are no indictments yet.”

Continue Reading

Education

NIJ to Hold 2025 Convocation Ceremony May 6

Published

on

NIJ Ogba

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Ogba, Lagos, has announced that its 2025 convocation ceremony would take place on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.

According to the official schedule, the convocation lecture will hold on Monday, May 5, at 11 am at the Kesington Adebutu Media Resource Centre, located within the institute’s premises.

The main convocation ceremony is slated for Tuesday, May 6, also at 11 am, and will take place at the NIJ premises.

The convocation will cover graduating students from the classes of 2022 through 2024 across its National Diploma, Higher National Diploma, and Post Graduate Diploma programmes.

Business Post gathered that students who excelled during their academic pursuits at the monotechnic would be recognised and awarded for their feats.

Graduating students are expected to receive their certificates immediately after the convocation.

The event is expected to bring together the management, academic staff, students, alumni, and dignitaries from the media and communication sectors to celebrate the achievements of the graduating students.

Continue Reading

Trending

https://businesspost.ng/DUIp2Az43VRhqKxaI0p7hxIKiEDGcGdois8KSOLd.html