By Temitope Mustapha, Abuja
Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has launched the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), with pledges of more inclusiveness and provision of sufficient funds to sustain the programme.
The President pledged on Wednesday during the Presidential launch and the Nigeria Education Loan Fund disbursement at the Council Chamber of the State House, Abuja.
Addressing the Board, Members of the Cabinet, and the management of the Fund present at the launch, President Tinubu reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to the Renewed Hope Agenda saying democracy is all about inclusiveness.
The Nigerian Leader added that the target of his administration is to build a fair society built on successful inclusiveness.
President Tinubu restated that education remains the greatest weapon against poverty, terrorism, banditry, and other societal fixes.
“What I believe is that education is the greatest weapon against poverty in any society, without education there is no vision, there is development, and you cannot successfully conquer insecurity.
“Education is that light at the end of the tunnel no matter how sluggish you move, it will give you the light and the hope”.
The President further noted that Nigeria will continue to invest in education to empower the citizens and deploy it as a tool against terrorism, banditry, and insecurity.
“And we are investing, we don’t want to try ignorance as an alternative, we want education from foundations to the topmost level and I am glad that leadership and its leadership accepted the responsibility.
“There is available here the hope and the genuine and commitment, inclusiveness is what democracy is all about.
“Today I am fufilling one of my greatest campaign agenda, You cannot find your way if you are not well educated, you cannot even fight terrorism and banditry.
“If we have successful inclusive and loan that is necessary for our people to get educated and invest in their own lives we would have built a fair society and a promise that we will earn a banner without stain to our children.
The President also symbolically presented loan cheques to students from each geo-political zone, indicating the beginning of the disbursement of the fund to qualified Nigerian students.
President Tinubu also presented cheques to Vice Chancellors of the Bayero University of Kano, Federal University of Technology, Owerri amongst other institutions present.
Disclosing the NELFUND portal’s key metrics from 25th May till date, the Executive Secretary of the NELFUND, Akintonde Sawyerr, said a total number of 164,000 students registered for the loan with a total number of 103,000 of them applied.
Sawyerr revealed that a total sum of N32 billion is currently available for disbursement to kick-start the program.
He said NELFUND aims to empower Nigerian youth by providing fair transparent funding and removing financial barriers to educational opportunities and academic pursuits.
Reeling out NELFUND’s progress since the launch, Sawyerr said the Fund got key amendments of the loan act on 3rd April 2024, secured dashboard metrics on May 25th May till date as well as the Prssidial disbursement of funds on 17th July 2024.
Institutional Cheque
Sawyer explained that students applied for two types of loan, one is educational fees which are sent directly to institutions and the other is the student application for upkeep loan, which is the loan that covers a monthly stipend
“Institutions collected a cheque for multiple applications also students cannot get stipend unless the fees are been picked by NELFUND.”
