The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has said a former House of Representatives Deputy Whip Lanre Laoshe, who benefitted from the Federal Government Student Loan Scheme, has repaid his N1,200 student loan.
Laoshe was said to have obtained the loan between 1976 and 1979 and has repaid N3,189,217.
A statement yesterday in Abuja by Nasir Ayitogo on behalf of NELFUND’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, said Laoshe, who benefited from the defunct Federal Government Student Loan Scheme, expressed his deep appreciation for the financial support he received from the government while pursuing his education.
He said in order to determine the current equivalent of the N1,200 loan, he obtained a table of average annual exchange rates from 1972 to 1985 from sources at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“The table indicated that in 1979, the exchange rate was $1.00 = N0.596, meaning that the sum of N1,200.00 was equivalent to $2,013.42 at the time.
“Using the current exchange rate of $1.00 = N1,583.98, Laoshe calculated that the equivalent amount today would be N3,189,217.00,” the statement said.
It added: “As a result, he issued a Polaris Bank Plc bank draft (number 14670909) for this amount to NELFUND, marking his repayment as a token of gratitude to the Federal Government for the role it played in his educational journey.”
