The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), has disbursed N116 billion to cover institutional fees and upkeep allowances for students across the country.
The Managing Director of the Fund, Akintunde Sawyerr, revealed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, reiterating the federal government’s commitment to affordable and inclusive tertiary education.
Giving a breakdown, Sawyerr said the fund paid N65 billion directly to 239 government-owned institutions. including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, on behalf of students whose loan applications were approved.
He said an additional N51 billion was disbursed as monthly upkeep allowances to the beneficiaries.
The NELFUND boss said a total of 1,067,000 loan applications were received, adding that 624,000 students have so far benefitted.
“We have 1,067,000 loan applications. We have been able to pay fees and upkeep for 624,000 students in 239 government-owned universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
“The 239 institutions in these categories have been paid by us. We have disbursed so far, N65 billion in institutional fees. We have paid out N51 billion as monthly upkeep. It is a lot of money and a lot of people have received the upkeep.
“In total, we have disbursed N116 billion of Nigeria’s government money,” he said.
According to Sawyer, the education loan scheme was one of the flagship social investment initiatives of the President Bola Tinubu administration, designed to remove financial barriers for students in tertiary institutions, so that no Nigerian is denied education due to lack of funds.
On why the fund was not paying school fees for freshers, he said that the risk of large-scale financial losses was responsible. Sawyerr explained that there was probability of unregistered or yet to matriculate students to change their minds about going to the school that offered the admission.
“If we pay fees for students that have not entered, what if they changed their minds and they don’t go to the schools anymore?
“We cannot just say because somebody has been admitted to a school, we will pay the fees before registering or matriculating,” he said.
According to him, doing so would amount to disbursing against intention, a practice he warned could be financially risky for the government.
“If we carry on like that, we could end up disbursing billions of naira, only to find out that they have dropped out, got admission to a school outside the country, gone to another school, or not doing that course again,” he said
Sawyerr listed the requirement for a matriculation number to access loan by schools was a key challenge, saying the fund was working with tertiary institutions to find a temporary solution, which may include allowing students to use their Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) registration numbers as a substitute for matriculation numbers.
“There are many genuine students who have applied and they need matriculation number to be able to process their fees. The challenge is that, they cannot get their matriculation number until they have matriculated and they cannot matriculate until they have paid.
“We are trying to work with the schools to see how those who have registered, can use their JAMB registration number, as a substitute,” he said.
The NELFUND boss said plans were underway to extend its student loan scheme to cover vocational and skills acquisition programmes.
Sawyerr said the extension was in alignment with the Federal Government’s broader education and skills development agenda, adding that the move reflected President Tinubu’s commitment to inclusive human capital development beyond traditional university education.
“No nation is built solely by philosophers. It is very important to have people who can use their hands, energy, strength, and skills to put into action the clever ideas that come from those emerging from academic institutions,” he said
According to him, Nigeria’s next development phase requires a balance between academic and technical competence, adding that the fund’s mandate included vocational skills.
“We have not started yet, but I know that the President Bola Tinubu administration has ensured that there is full coverage around the skills issue.
”The Ministry of Youth Development is doing skills, the Ministry of Education is involved in skills and the Ministry of Digital Economy is involved in IT soft skills. So, skills is something that many departments of government have been charged with doing.
“And I think it is very clear that an engineer who can build, is better than an engineer who can just design. The stage that we are in this country now is what I would call, the design, build, and operate stage,” he said.
The NELFUND boss also explained the disparity in the payment of students’ upkeep allowances under the new scheme, attributing it to application timing, institutional processes, and the evolving nature of the initiative.
He added that procedural and timing differences across institutions were responsible for most of the complaints by student about delayed stipends.
“It is not possible to have this kind of scheme without having a complaint somewhere. We receive complaints everyday here, about one thing or the other. When we analyse the complaints, some of them are our fault, some of them are not our fault.
“Some students will tell you that they have been waiting for their stipend, they have not gotten it. When you asked, how long have you been waiting, when did you apply? They will say, last year.
“When we look at the books, however, we will discover that they only applied the previous week. When it comes to money, people want to see how fast they can get it,” he said.
He explained that students’ varying academic calendars and application timelines had made synchronisation of upkeep payments complex.
“This is a relatively new scheme. This is not a scheme that has been running for 10 years or 20 years, where you can say, ok, we have these people that we are paying.
“Remember that, we are dealing with students who are applying at different times, who are at institutions with different timetables, who are at different stages, in terms of where they are, in their sessions.
“The complexity of start date, end date, as people graduate, sessions close, a new session begins is not small,” he stated.
Sawyerr explained that the fund would not make retrospective payments to avoid cases of double disbursement, adding that payment for each student starts the month his/her application is approved, and stops at the end of the academic session.
He dismissed concerns of fees inflation by schools, noting that institutions input the official fee structures into the student verification system.
He said the students are able to challenge the fees if the amount seen on the portal eas higher than their actual school fees.
On private sector partnership, the NELFUND boss said there have been influx of interests from organisations and philanthropists eager to colloborate in financing institutional fees for underprivileged Nigerians.
“Several private companies and wealthy Nigerians have approached NELFUND to use its platform to pay the fees of students they do not personally know.
“We have also had a number of people who received loans from the old scheme in the 70s who have given us cheques.
“They believe that in giving us money or paying off their loans of 50 years ago, in some cases, show that they are having some level of trust in government.
“We see this as a veritable platform to be able to pay fees using money from the government and the private sector.
“In terms of sustainability, what I can tell you is that this programme will be best sustained with public-private-partnership. The private sector is also going to benefit, largely by having people who are better educated to be employed into their workforce” he added.
On NELFUND’s success story, Sawyerr said they have been able to reduce the number of people dropping out of school.
“You will be amazed at the number of students who would have dropped out in their final year but the loan rescued them. I think at this point, I should give credit to President Bola Tinubu for being visionary to positively affect the lives of many Nigerians,” he said .
NELFUND, Sawyerr said, draws its funding from multiple sources, including a share of the four per cent development levy on company profits, federal budget allocations, and external donations or grants, adding that the fund is also permitted by law to generate revenue through productive activities.
He said the loan repayment process is structured to be simple and fair, adding that graduates begin repayment in their third year after NYSC, with employers mandated to remit 10 per cent of beneficiaries’ monthly income to NELFUND. “Self-employed beneficiaries are expected to make the same 10 per cent contribution directly, and a Global Standing Instruction system is in place to recover funds from defaulters when necessary,” he added.
NELFUND IN FIGURES
Applications received: 1,067,000
No. of student beneficiaries: 624,000
No. of govt-owned institutions paid: 239
Amount paid as tuition: N65b
Monthly upkeep so far disbursed: N51b
By Precious Igbonwelundu, @TheNation
