A culinary training firm, Danti Kitchen Culinary School, has raised the alarm over more than ₦6 million in unpaid student fees, prompting Abel Abraham, a House of Representatives hopeful for Abak Federal Constituency, to ask whether any of the indebted students are from Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika.
The school’s proprietor made the disclosure in a Facebook post titled “A Cry From the Heart: When Compassion Is Met With Betrayal,” lamenting the financial burden of training students who allegedly failed to honour promises to pay their outstanding fees.
According to the proprietor, the firm invested heavily in practical training, quality ingredients and external tutors to equip students with culinary skills that could help them earn a living.
The proprietor also disclosed that personal loans running into millions of naira had been taken to finance some training sessions, while additional lessons were provided beyond the school’s regular curriculum to improve the students’ skills.
Beyond training, the firm claimed to have helped some graduates secure employment, with the beneficiaries allegedly promising to settle their debts once they received their first salaries.
However, the proprietor said repeated appeals for repayment had yielded little success, leaving the school struggling with the accumulated debt.
The complaint attracted the attention of Abraham, who commented on the post, asking: “Any of the students from Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika on that list?”
His question has raised the possibility of an intervention for affected students from the three local government areas. However, he has yet to make an explicit commitment in the comment to pay the outstanding fees.
The development highlights the financial challenges that private vocational training providers may face when they extend financial concessions to students in an effort to make skills acquisition accessible.
For Danti Kitchen Culinary School, the immediate concern remains the recovery of the outstanding fees, which the proprietor says were incurred in the course of providing training and employment opportunities to aspiring culinary professionals.
Source: The proprietor’s Facebook post.
