The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) disbursed about N23 billion in loans to 94,000 students in 2023. This is according to Mr. Akintunde Sawyerr, Managing Director of NELFUND.
Speaking on the Politics Today show on Monday, Mr Sawyerr explained that even though NELFUND currently funds all courses, there would likely be a focus on courses that can contribute to Nigeria’s growth as a country, are sellable, and are exportable.
NELFUND managing director, Akintunde Sawyerr said that nobody is required to pay back to the fund until they get a job. In his words, he said “It is important to appreciate that We are not funding education for education’s sake. We are going to give funds to people to do things that are going to give them the most realistic chance of getting a job, so that we can make Nigeria more competitive in terms of its workforce. But we are not discriminating against any course as of today, and we will not do so without public consultations.”
He added that most of the beneficiaries so far are from the northern part of Nigeria, but there has also been a recent rise in applications from other parts, such as the South-south and South-east zones. He said; “If you look at it as a geographical exercise, you will find that the north seems to have the advantage, but if you look at it as a state of origin exercise, there are many students from the south-south and south-east regions who are studying in the north and have started benefiting from the scheme. But I think it’s important to look at it in terms of geography so that we can track investments going into the institutions.”
He noted that the scheme is focused on students from government-owned tertiary institutions in the country but has not yet reached every such institution.
Sawyerr noted that NELFUND estimates reaching the majority of students in public universities by 2025 and will have onboarded at least 1.2 million students.
He added that NELFUND considered an upward review of the N20,000 student stipends in the coming year. The beneficiaries will get a moratorium of two years post-NYSC before they are required to repay the loans. “Nobody is required to pay back to the fund until they get a job, and even then, it is the employer that will be required to make the deduction and remit to the fund” Sawyerr explained.
