Kaduna students give El-Rufai 21-day ultimatum to pay scholarship allowances

– The National Association of Kaduna State Students (NAKASS) accuses the Kaduna state government of making undergraduates go through hardship by failing to disburse their scholarship allowances

– Jeremiah Gwaza, the secretary general of the association, demands for the refund of N500 reportedly paid to the scholarship board by almost 50,000 students to purchase scholarship forms

The Kaduna state government has been given a 21-day ultimatum to pay 3 years scholarship allowances to students of the state or have the state’s institutions shut down.

The ultimatum was issued by the National Association of Kaduna state Students (NAKASS), which threatened to go on with it promise to shut down institutions in the state if the government does not accede to its demands.

The secretary general of the association, Jeremiah Gwaza, accused the statement government of making students go through hardship by failing to disburse their scholarship.

“It has been three(3) Academic Sessions now without a penny from the state government to help Kaduna State Students augment for the high cost of living in most school environment around the country,” the NAKASS stated.

“This has brought a perilous experience to a lot of students, as a result of this ordeal over 73,632 students are subjected to various forms of hardship and challenges ranging from Tuition Fees which has led to deferment of sessions, Semester and in some cases even withdrawal.

“We also demand the refund of 500 Naira paid to the scholarship board by almost 50,000 students to purchase scholarship forms which was never granted, payment should be made to their personal accounts as we all know some of them have graduated and others even are no more.”

In another report in economics news, Udo Udoma, the minister of budget and national planning, has admitted to concerns raised by the International Monetary Fund on Nigeria’s debt vulnerabilities.

The minister on Thursday, October 11, during the presentation of IMF regional economic outlook report for Sub-Sahara Africa at the ongoing IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Bali, said Nigeria’s debt profile should be adequately monitored, The Punch reports.

Udo Udoma said Nigeria’s external debt is primarily concessional borrowing, representing 54% of the country’s external debt as of June 2018.