The National Assembly and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) have begun efforts to expand the student loan scheme, with a target of increasing direct beneficiaries from 1.6 million to seven million.
The move was announced on Monday at a national sensitisation
programme on student loans organised by the senate committee on tertiary
education and TETFund in collaboration with NELFund.
Akintunde Sawyerr, managing director of NELFund, said the
scheme has recorded disbursements of N282 billion and directly benefited 1.6
million students across the country.
Sawyerr said the impact of the scheme extends beyond the
direct beneficiaries.
“Today, 1.6 million Nigerian students have directly
benefited from the NELFund scheme,” he said.
“If we consider that the average Nigerian family consists of
about five people, it means we are directly and indirectly impacting nearly 10
million lives.”
Sawyerr said the agency is seeking support from stakeholders
to expand the programme to reach more Nigerians.
“We are, however, appealing to stakeholders on the need to
expand the student loan scheme to target up to 7 million beneficiaries across
Nigerian tertiary institutions and vocational centres for the required driving
and real national transformation,” he said.
Sawyerr added that NELFund plans to expand the programme to
include skills acquisition and technical and vocational education, a move he
said could ultimately impact about 50 million Nigerians.
Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, described the
sensitisation campaign as timely, saying many eligible Nigerians are yet to
take advantage of the scheme.
“No matter how beneficial a programme is, if the intended
beneficiaries are not adequately informed about it, its impact will be
limited,” he said.
“People need to understand what the programme entails and
how they can access it.
“That is exactly what this sensitisation campaign is all
about and should be taken round the entire six geo-political zones.”
Ifeoluwa Ehindero, chairman of the house committee on
student loans, scholarships and tertiary education financing, said the
awareness campaign would deepen public understanding of the opportunities
available through the programme.
“This sensitisation programme is both timely and important,
as it helps create awareness and deepen understanding of the opportunities
available to students through the scheme,” he said.
“The Fund has recorded the remarkable achievement of
reaching over 1.5 million beneficiary students and disbursing more than ₦282
billion to support Nigerian scholars.”
Muntari Dandutse, chairman of the senate committee on
TETFund, said the programme was part of efforts to ensure equitable access to
education for all Nigerians through effective legislative oversight.
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