GRATIFYINGLY, the National Education Loan Fund, aka NELFUND, has commenced disbursement of loans to students in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The loan payment commenced earlier this month, according to the Managing Director of the programme, Mr. Akintunde Sawyer, who disclosed that the sum of N32billion was in NELFUND’s account for release to students. The loan scheme covers students in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
But what seems to be alarming about the credit scheme is that students from Southern parts of the country are skeptical about it and therefore not taking full advantage of the offer. Rather than cash in on the opportunity, their attitude had been that of disinterest. According to Mr. Sawyer, students from the North, so far, have much higher percentage of enrolment. He did not disclose the percentage ratio but admitted the situation was embarrassing.
Inaugurating NELFUND mid-July, President Bola Tinubu underscored the importance of the programme. Said he: “The National Education Loan Fund will thrive on fairness, equity and promote inclusiveness by removing the financial barrier to higher education for Nigerian students…The provision of loans to students will encourage more people to seek knowledge, go for higher education and become valuable contributors to national development.”
The MD reiterated the aim of the scheme: “NELFUND is aimed at giving Nigeria better leadership in the future and improve the socioeconomic situation in the country…This loan is for those who are going to be starting institutions afresh or those who are already there.” Applicants, he emphasized, must have JAMB registration numbers, Bank Verification Numbers, National Identification Numbers, among other requirements, which must be forwarded to NELFUND through and by the applicants’ institutions.
By the account of the fund’s chief executive officer, the loans cover only tuition fees, and the value of each is determined by the tuition fee applicable in each school. This simply implies that there is no uniform amount to be disbursed to all applicants. For instance, tuition fee obtainable at a federal university would definitely vary with what is paid at its state counterpart, meaning that the loan package for students of the two institutions would also be different. Even within an institution where fees vary from one faculty to the other, the size of loan to students of the particular school will not be the same.
The loan scheme, in our consideration, is a worthy initiative that would indeed motivate students regardless of financial status to acquire higher education. The scheme is such that loan repayment would commence two years after the applicant completes the NYSC programme and secures a job or establishes an enterprise. Penalty for default include two years imprisonment or N500,000 fine, according to the fund. This certainly would deter successful loan applicants that would not want to repay.
Much as we applaud the Tinubu administration for introducing the scheme, we are appalled at the attitudeof Southern students from whose region the revenue for funding the programme mostly comes. As a matter of fact the highest proportion of students in the nation’s public tertiary institutions is from the South, which houses very high number of tertiary schools.
Delta State, for instance, has four state universities, three polytechnics and three colleges of education. The state also hosts three federal specialized universities and a college of education (technical). It would be a self-inflicted injury for students of these institutions or the schools themselves to deny themselves access to the NELFUND scheme, which should ease the challenges of acquiring higher education.
Could it just be that the students are not well aware of the programme, which legally came into existence in February this year or that the management of the scheme has not adequately sensitized its target public to cash in on it? Whichever way, it is obvious NELFUND’s message should be properly conveyed to its Southern audience, underlining its huge merits and denouncing the alleged skeptical orientation of students from the region to the programme.
President Tinubu emphasized fairness, equity and inclusiveness as cardinal features of the intervention project but the attitude of Southern students negates all three elements. This is why we are of the strong view that the NELFUND, which is chaired by Mr. Jim Ovia should embark on publicity campaign to sensitize the relevant, potential beneficiaries on the existence of the fund. Such a hugely beneficial intervention scheme deserves more advocacies.
