WorldStage Newsonline– No fewer than 90,000 students have benefited from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) in six months, says the Fund’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr.
Sawyerr who gave the figure when the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund led by Sen. Muntari Dandutse paid an oversight visit to NELFund’s office in Abuja on Tuesday said that fees and stipends for over 90,000 students have been paid.
“300, 000 students have been dimmed to qualify for the loans. The gap between those that have qualified and those in benefit of the loan is that we have to go through a rigorous process to ensure we are not giving money to the wrong people.”
Sawyerr said that from the N96 billion committed to the loan, about N11 billion has been disbursed to the 90, 000 students across the country.
He said: “That figure, N96 billion, is the loan committed to. It’s not the disbursed figure. We have disbursed just below N11 billion.
“The rest of it is going to be disbursed over the next few weeks to students until it gets to that 96 billion,” he said.
He noted that the loan was in two categories; the Institutional Loan and the Upkeep Loan adding that students don’t have to apply for either loan.
“They don’t have to apply for either loan. However, they can only apply for the upkeep loan if they have applied for the institutional loan and received it.
“The institutional loan is the primary loan that allows them to access education.
“Once they have accessed that loan and they get that, they can also get the upkeep but they can’t get the upkeep on its own because upkeep is tied to going to school”.
Sawyerr said that NELFund was determined to change the lives of students through the Renewed Hope mandate of President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
He said that in terms of the geo-political zones’ spread of the disbursement, 12 per cent of students from the North-central have so far benefited from the facility.
“The North-east, 26 per cent have benefited; the North-west, 38 per cent; South-east, about 10 per cent; South-south, about 4 per cent and the South-west, 13 per cent.
“These numbers have doubled since we’ve been there. So, we are monitoring it month by month,” Sawyerr said.
On the loan repayment modalities, Sawyerr said that it has been made very easy in that the programme is not a profit-making activity for the Fund.
“This is a profit-making activity for the nation. Therefore, we have tried to put in soft terms, so that people will not be discouraged from going to school”.
He said that the repayment was for two years after the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) if they have a job.
“The onus is on the employer to pay on their behalf or to take money from their salaries”.
Earlier, Chairman of the Senate Committee, Sen. Muntari Dandutse said that they were at the NELFund’s headquarters to assess the the progress so far made by the Fund which was set up barely six months ago.
“We are here to see value of what NELFund has done. It has just taken off in the last six months. The fact is that, what they have done is very commendable.
“Over 90, 000 students have access to the loan. And in spite of the challenges and constraints, this is a very significant development in terms of success of education in Nigeria.
“Going forward, a lot of resources will be invested.
“And each of the geo-political zones will have a liaison office where they will coordinate the universities, the polytechnics and the federal colleges of education so that their staff will enhance efficiency of this purpose”.
Dandutse said that the Senate was closely reviewing the specific initiatives undertaken by NELFund to enhance Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.
“This includes assessing the outcomes of projects designed to Improve infrastructure, foster research, and support staff development within tertiary institutions”.
Dandutse also said that the upper chamber was committed to fostering a tertiary education system that was responsive, impactful and transformative for Nigeria’s future.
Also speaking, a member of the committee, Sen. Diket Plang (APC-Plateau) said that with NELFund, the government has done something that will be great in the lives of students.
He urged the Fund to use additional modalities to get to most of the students to apply for the loan.
“For instance, each state has a scholarship board. As much as you meet with heads of public tertiary institutions, each head of the institution should be in position to explain to students the benefits of the loan. If we have that, it will help, Plang said.
