The Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr, announced that the federal government’s student loan scheme would be extended to state universities.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, May 30, Sawyer said their website has attracted over 60,000 visitors since its launch.
Sawyerr mentioned that over 90% of federal institutions have submitted their student lists, with only two federal universities and two federal polytechnics yet to comply.
He also stated that the loan scheme will be extended to students at state universities within the next three weeks.
On June 12, 2023, President Bola Tinubu enacted the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, which provides interest-free loans to financially disadvantaged students for their studies at any Nigerian university or college.
The move was in “fulfilment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said
The Act, commonly referred to as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to handle all loan requests, grants, disbursements, and recoveries.
While the government initially planned to launch the scheme in September, it faced numerous delays, resulting in an indefinite postponement in early March.
The Presidency attributed the delay to President Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.
On January 22, after being briefed by the NELFUND team, led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, the President instructed the Fund to offer interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes.
Tinubu emphasised the importance of including those who may not wish to pursue a university education, highlighting that skill acquisition is as crucial as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic degrees.
