The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has raised serious concerns over the continued failure of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to address the prolonged non-payment of Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) allowances owed to students in tertiary institutions across the country.
In a statement issued by the Assistant Secretary General (National) of NANS, Comrade Adejuwon Olatunji Emmanuel, the association lamented that for several years, thousands of students who duly participated in the SIWES programme have been denied their statutory allowances.
NANS noted that despite numerous complaints, petitions and engagements by students’ bodies and relevant stakeholders, the issue remains unresolved. The association therefore called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene by ordering a comprehensive forensic audit of SIWES funds and ensuring the immediate payment of all outstanding allowances.
The student body expressed strong dissatisfaction with what it described as the persistent and unjustifiable failure of the ITF to fulfil its responsibilities, stressing that the situation has exposed students to severe financial hardship and eroded the credibility of a programme designed to promote skills acquisition, employability and national workforce development.
NANS further issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to take decisive action on the matter, warning that failure to do so would be interpreted as institutional indifference to the plight of Nigerian students and would force the association to escalate its response through all available democratic means.
In addition, the association called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to immediately invite the leadership of the ITF for investigation and provide a full account of how SIWES funds have been managed over the years.
According to NANS, Nigerian students should not continue to suffer as a result of administrative incompetence or institutional negligence, stressing that SIWES is a statutory entitlement and not a privilege, and any leadership that consistently fails to honour this obligation has failed its mandate.
