The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has disbursed N84.2billion to the applicants, comprising of N27.5billion and N56.7 billion in institutional and upkeep facilities respectively, as at September 2024.
The House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Polytechnic and Higher Technical Education, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, who disclosed this at the weekend at the 36th annual conference of Federal Government College, Maiduguri Old Students Association, held in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, said that 351,317 students have registered on the NELFUND portal, out of which 258,943 applied for either institutional or upkeep loan or both.
Isiaka spoke on Empowering The Next Generation: Education As a Catalyst For National Development (Student Loans Access To Higher Education Act 2024 in Perspective)
He noted that the Students Loan Access to Higher Education Act, 2024, aims to bridge the financial gap, ensuring that deserving students have access quality higher education.
Isiaka, who is representing Yewa North/Imeko-Afon Federal Constituency of Ogun State, said the new bill removes obstacles that previously disqualified student applicants based on their parents’ loan history while guarantor requirement has been eliminated, allowing students to apply for and receive loans subject to application and identity verification guidelines.
Isiaka disclosed that the resuscitation of the student loans which started in 1972 but was later suspended is a game changer as it has capacity to widen Nigerians access to affordable and qualitative higher education.
“Applicants can apply for loans to cover tuition fees, other school fees, and maintenance allowances.
He said, “the new bill as against that of 2022 has equally eliminated the family income threshold, enabling all Nigerian students to apply for loans and accept responsibility for repayment according to the Fund’s guidelines”.
“The beneficiaries of this loan will kick off repayment two years after observing the National Youth Service Corps. The beneficiaries can equally request an extension of enforcement payment providing an affidavit indicating they are not employed and receiving no income”.
“In the event of death or acts of God causing inability to repay, the loan will be forgiven”.
“But any person who provides a false statement to the Fund under the loan repayment section will be guilty of a felony and liable to imprisonment for three years”.
He explained, “as at the end of September 2024, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has made tremendous progress under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, paving the way for a brighter future for our nation’s students.
“Figure speak for itself. 351,317 students have registered on the NELFUND portal out of which 258,943 have applied for either institutional or upkeep loan or both.
“A total of N84.2billion have thus far being disbursed to the applicants comprising of N27.5billion and N56.7 billion in institutional and upkeep facilities respectively.
“This is more than just a statistic. It represents hope, opportunity and a commitment to empowering our students to succeed”.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen, the National President, Federal Government College, Maiduguri Old Students Association, Mr Chris Abu, while lamenting the current state of education in the country, condemned the grossly inadequate human resources and the sorry state of infrastructure of the education facilities in the country.
He said that the federal, state and the local governments, as well as private sector must come together and see how these challenges could be addressed.
Speaking on the negative effect of insecurity on the enrollment in Federal Government Colleges, otherwise known as ‘Unity Schools, Abu said, “I feel a little bit bad that the status quo has changed in our Federal Government Colleges. In the past while we were at Federal Government College, Maiduguri, Borno State, the population of the indigenes among the students was not more than 30%, the remaining 70% were students from other parts of state and other ethnic backgrounds .
“But this has changed due to the insecurity challenge. Right now, about 60 to 80 percent of the student population are indigenes whereas that is not the purpose of these Federal Government Colleges also called Unity Schools. The essence of unity school is to bring together students of diverse backgrounds and ethnicity so that we can promote unity of the country and national integration”.
(Vanguard)
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