The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has raised alarm over what it described as the prolonged, selective, and inconsistent payment of Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) allowances, demanding the immediate removal of the Director General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun.
In a statement signed by its Assistant Secretary General (National), Comr. Adejuwon Olatunji Emmanuel, NANS accused the ITF of failing for years to pay statutory SIWES allowances owed to thousands of students across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education nationwide.
According to the student body, payments have not been formally stopped but have instead been irregular, delayed, and selective. While a small percentage of students eventually receive payments—often long after completing their industrial training—many others are never paid at all despite fulfilling all requirements and submitting the necessary documentation.
NANS stated that complaints over unpaid SIWES allowances became widespread around 2018–2019 and significantly worsened between 2020 and 2024. By the 2024–2025 academic period, the association estimates that thousands of students were still owed allowances for SIWES programmes they had already completed.
The association noted that the official SIWES allowance remains ₦15,000 for the entire programme, usually paid as ₦3,750 per month over four months, depending on the institution. NANS described the amount as grossly inadequate and outdated, stressing that it has not been reviewed upward for many years despite rising inflation and economic hardship.
“There is no clear payment timeline communicated by ITF, no reliable feedback mechanism after submission, and no transparent record of beneficiaries who have been paid or those still owed,” the statement said.
NANS further alleged that, based on its internal assessments, only about 30 per cent of eligible students receive SIWES payments, leaving roughly 70 per cent unpaid.
The student body dismissed suggestions linking SIWES funding challenges to the introduction of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), clarifying that NELFUND is designed to provide tuition and upkeep loans, while SIWES allowances remain a statutory responsibility of the ITF.
According to NANS, there is no policy transferring SIWES funding obligations from ITF to NELFUND.
Expressing concern over what it termed a “leadership accountability gap,” NANS accused the ITF under its current leadership of poor communication with institutions and students, absence of a grievance redress mechanism, and lack of public audits or published records of SIWES fund disbursements in recent years.
While stopping short of declaring the ITF leadership guilty of wrongdoing, NANS said allegations of mismanagement and possible diversion of SIWES funds circulating among students were serious enough to warrant urgent investigation.
On this basis, the association demanded the immediate removal of Dr. Ogun as Director-General of ITF, describing his continued stay in office as “untenable.”
NANS also issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, insisting that the ITF DG should either be removed or resign within that period to allow for a transparent investigation into the unpaid allowances.
Failure to act, the association warned, would be interpreted as institutional indifference to students’ welfare and would force NANS to escalate its response “through all democratic means available.”
Also, NANS called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to immediately invite ITF leadership for a thorough probe into the management of SIWES funds.
The association also appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene by ordering a comprehensive forensic audit of SIWES finances and ensuring the prompt payment of all outstanding allowances.
“SIWES is not a privilege; it is a statutory entitlement,” NANS said, adding that Nigerian students should not continue to bear the consequences of administrative failure or institutional negligence.