The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed N53.98 billion to 516,212 students as loans.
NELFUND’s Executive Director (Operations), Iyal Mustapha, made this known yesterday at a stakeholders’ engagement and technical workshop on system automation and the loan application process in Abuja.
He added that 576,058 students have so far registered for the loan by the agency, which currently has N170.44 billion in its coffers and is ready for disbursement.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Akintunde Sawyerr and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Students Loan, Scholarships and Higher Education Financing, Ifeoluwa Ehindero, were present at the event, being attended by heads of tertiary institutions in the country.
The Executive Director stated that NELFUND needed ‘’ to do more sensitisation in the South to increase the number of applications” for loans.
He said: “Students from the Southsouth and Southeast don’t believe the loan is real. That’s why we have low applications from the two regions.
“The Northwest is leading in the number of applications. Students from the North seem to have embraced the loan scheme.’’
Mustapha described the workshop as a critical milestone in the collective journey by the stakeholders to deliver a fully digitised, transparent, and student-centric financial aid system for higher education in the country.
He advised them to show higher interest in the scheme because of its immense benefits to them and the relief it would give their parents.
Figures from NELFUND show that only 27,098 students applied for the loan from the Southeast and 37,180 from the Southsouth.
The Northwest has the highest number of applicants, with 157,831 students, followed by the Northeast with 127,058. Southwest has 92,850 applicants and Northcentral, 74,120.
NELFUND boss Sawyerr explained that the meeting was intended to influence how the payment platform evolves and how it addresses practical challenges faced by institutions and students alike.
He said: “We are not here merely to discuss another government initiative. We are here to activate a national transformation on how we fund, manage, and support access to higher education in Nigeria.
“As many of you know, the Student Loan Initiative is in perfect alignment with the Federal Government’s vision—to make quality education accessible to all Nigerians, regardless of socioeconomic background.
“I want to emphasise that what we are building here is not just a loan platform. We are building a foundation for national development. We are building a Nigeria where every young person with ambition can access the education they deserve.
‘’Let us engage today not just as participants, but as co-creators of a better, smarter future for higher education financing in Nigeria.”
Ehindero said for the system to be truly effective, there is a need to modernise and streamline how to manage, track, and deliver funds to deserving students.
He said that automating and optimising the NELFUND system would lead to a more transparent, efficient and responsive process for loan applications, approvals and disbursements.
The House committee chairman added: “This is essential for the success of the initiative and will go a long way in ensuring that our students benefit in a timely and accountable manner.
“As members of the House of Representatives Committee on Student Loans, we have been working tirelessly to ensure that the legislative framework supports and facilitates these reforms. However, legislative efforts alone are not enough.
“We need your expertise, your feedback, and your active participation to make sure that we have a system that works for everyone, from the students applying for loans to the institutions managing the funds.
Representative of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Lawal Faruk, described NELFUND as one of the best policies of the Federal Government.
“Our dream is to see NELFUND one day onboard all the students in the country, whether public or private,” he said.
