NELFUND Voices Concerns Over Southern Students’ Skepticism Toward Education Loan Scheme

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has voiced concerns about students from the southern region of the country being skeptical about the loan scheme and its effectiveness.

NELFUND's Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr on Wednesday said that more applications were coming in from the northern region, which he believed showed a lack of trust in the southern region.

The loan scheme is being rolled out in two phases: the first phase is for students from federal government-owned institutions and the second phase is for those from state-owned institutions, including universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and mono-technics.

"Institutions in the north of the country have been very proactive at supporting and helping their students and providing that data to us," Sawyerr said, Premium Times reported. "I think the most skeptical part of the country is in the south, you know, they question everything. Is it true? Is it real? Is it a scam?"

"And I think you know, what you witnessed today with us actually just starting this disbursement program is to say that this is no fun. This is no fun. Right? And we're trying to ensure that people know that this is not a trick. It's not a game."

He said that NELFUND has the funds ready to disburse to successful applicants, noting that skepticism will decrease once payments are made to the institutions.

Sawyerr noted that universities had the most applicants, followed by polytechnics and colleges of education. He also explained that applicants can choose to apply for a loan to cover their school fees, an upkeep loan or just the school fees loan.

He added that students would not receive a stipend unless their fees were paid; however, they can still get the fees covered and choose not to take the stipend loan.

The student loan scheme is a major project of President Bola Tinubu in the education sector. Just a month after taking office last year, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, which set up a legal framework for providing loans to low-income Nigerians to help pay their fees at Nigerian universities and colleges.

Earlier this month, the president launched the digital disbursement of the NELFUND at the State House, emphasizing that it will ensure fairness and equity in making higher education financially accessible to Nigerian students.