THE National Association of Nigerian Students, (NANS) has called on students of higher institutions in the Southern part of the country to ensure they access loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) to ease their financial burden given the precarious economic realities.
NANS made this call in a statement signed by the Clerk of the NANS Senate, National headquarters, Abdul-Yekinn Odunayo, yesterday, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Odunayo, who bemoaned the low application for the student loan by students from the south of Nigeria, noted that the loan scheme was put in place by the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government to help Nigerian students achieve sustainable higher education and functional skill development.
He added that the students body had observed that students from the north were taking advantage of the scheme more to enhance their education pursuit, declaring that students from the south will only be doing a disservice to themselves if they fail to emulate their Nothern counterpart.
Odunayo, lauded NELFUND for not making the process of accessing the loan cumbersome for Nigerian students and commended the President Tinubu-led administration for establishing the scheme.
According to him in the statement, the student loan scheme has helped many indigent Nigerian students to realize their dreams, urging NELFUND to continue to maintain accountability and probity in its operations.
Odunayo, however, charged the agency to engage in more publicity to further create awareness about the loan scheme, particularly for students in the southern part of the country.
