Kamal Saka-Odunjo, a Doctorate candidate on a Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) scholarship at Girne American University, Cyprus, accuses TETFund officials of embezzling funds meant for his education.
Nigerian PhD candidate Kamal Saka-Odunjo accused TETFund officials of embezzling his N10 million scholarship grant.
The grant, which was intended to support his doctoral studies in Cyprus, was allegedly mishandled, leaving him and approximately 600 other Nigerian scholars stranded and unable to continue their education abroad.
Saka-Odunjo, said he began his programme in 2021, describing a series of administrative failures and financial irregularities that he believes are part of a broader scheme to loot funds meant for students.
According to him, the mismanagement started when TETFund delayed the initial tuition deposit required by his university, leading to significant setbacks.
“When my sponsorship was granted, the exchange rate was N131 to a US Dollar. Now, it’s over N1,500, making the cost of living nearly unbearable,” Saka-Odunjo explained.
The scholar stated that despite the economic challenges, he received no support from TETFund.
He said Instead, he was met with bureaucratic hurdles and contradictory statements from the fund’s officials.
He further explained that the situation worsened when he discovered that the remaining tuition fees, which TETFund claimed to have paid, were never credited to his university account.
Despite multiple communications with various TETFund officials, including those in charge of financial records and accounts, the payment was not processed, resulting in his student portal being closed and warnings of possible deportation from his university.
Saka-Odunjo was forced to borrow money to keep his studentship, a move he described as “desperate.”
He said he returned to Nigeria in December 2022, following multiple warnings from his university about the unpaid tuition fees.
According to him,upon his return, I formally notified my university of the situation, prompting the institution’s management to intervene.
He said despite TETFund’s attempts to mislead the university management with fake documents, the truth emerged during a meeting attended by top university officials.
The university’s management wrote to TETFund, urging them to expedite the payment and also appealed to the university in Cyprus to allow Saka-Odunjo to continue his studies.
However, Saka-Odunjo’s plight remains unresolved as he enters the seventh semester of his PhD programme with the outstanding tuition fee still unpaid.
“This ordeal has been a significant setback,” Saka-Odunjo lamented.
“Most of my colleagues have graduated, but I’m stuck due to TETFund’s financial frustrations.”
As a Lecturer II in a federal university with a monthly salary of N132,000, he questions how he can support his family and cover such a substantial amount from his meagre earnings.
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