Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Akintunde Sawyerr, has disclosed that demand for student loans has surged beyond expectations, with the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) disbursing ₦162 billion in upkeep allowances to beneficiaries.

Sawyerr said the growing demand reflected the financial difficulties confronting many Nigerian students and their families, with the loan scheme helping beneficiaries remain in tertiary institutions.

He disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he described the response to the programme as “overwhelming”.

“The demand has been overwhelming, because clearly a lot of people have struggled to get into these institutions,” Sawyerr said.

“They are hanging on by the skin of their teeth to stay in the institution, and this programme came as a rescue for them.”

According to him, NELFUND is currently analysing the volume of applications and its disbursement figures to determine the financial resources required to meet the increasing demand.

The NELFUND chief executive said the fund had so far released ₦162 billion as upkeep allowances to students, as the government-backed initiative continues to expand across public tertiary institutions.

Sawyerr said the intervention was also beginning to influence competition among universities and other tertiary institutions because students with access to financial support now have greater flexibility when deciding where to study.

He said the fund’s impact was not limited to financial assistance, citing research which indicated that the scheme had contributed to a 20 per cent reduction in student dropout rates.

On the eligibility process, Sawyerr explained that NELFUND uses established procedures and available information to identify students who require financial assistance.