Nigeria Educational Loan Fund, NELFUND, has disbursed 33 billion Naira to 110 thousand students of government-owned tertiary institutions to enable them complete their educational pursuit.
The 110 thousand beneficiaries, who either have metriculation numbers or have just gained admission into the recognised institutions, are selected from the 164 thousand applicants of the loan.
One part of the loan is for tuition, which was given directly to the institutions of the beneficiaries, and the other part is for their upkeep, which according to the Managing Director of NELFUND, is by choice.
Mr. Sawyer told State House correspondents that NELFUND was committed to consolidating on the gains and continuous process improvement to serve applicants better.
He however noted some of the zones showed skepticism, and therefore paid little attention to it.
“institutions in the North have been very proactive at supporting and helping their students and in providing their data to NELFUND. That’s where the leaning is currently. They seem to be very well organised, in terms of networking in the northern part of the country. In the southern, there’s growing awareness and there’s growing interest, and I think there’s been a lot of skepticism, they question everything, is it true, is it real?”, Mr. Sawyer explained.
While launching the loan scheme in Abuja, President Tinubu said the loan intervention was aimed at addressing the negative effects of illiteracy on the youth and the nation.
“Without education, there’s no vision, without education, there’ll be no development, without education, you cannot even successfully conquer poverty, insecurity, and abuse in the society. Education is that light at the end of the tunnel”, he maintained.
He said the introduction of the loan scheme was in fulfilment of his campaign promises, which is focused on building a virile society.
Bello Wakili
