How NELFUND is tackling issues of dropout and access to tertiary education

CLEMENT IDOKO, writes on the apprehension of some students in taking the loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) in spite of its inherent benefits, concluding that more has to be done to make the process seamless for students.

RAKAYAT Wasiu, almost gave up on her dream and contemplated dropping out of school as a result of the difficulty she faces every day during her 100-level study for a degree in accounting at the prestigious University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

Miss Wasiu, being an orphan, has to contend with so many things, including the high cost of accommodation, the increment in tuition and other charges by the university, the high cost of food items, and transportation, among others. All that, coupled with family challenges, were to force her to discontinue her education after her 100th grade.

She, however, told the Nigerian Tribune that the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has come as a divine intervention, encouraging her to remain in school to continue with her education. According to Miss Wasiu, her tuition  for 200 Level were paid by NELFUND directly to the university’s accounts as institutional fees, while money for upkeep was paid to her personal account.

“When I heard about student loan, initially, I didn’t think it was a reality but my desperation for alternative source of funding made me to immediately apply for the loan soon after it was launched by the government and was announced by  the university. I was excited when I heard that it was an interest-free loan and that there would be money for upkeep not just payment of school fees. I felt within me that NELFUND has come to the rescue. I saw the creation of the Fund as a avenue to allow me continue my education  though many of my friends and students around did not believe in it. The story changed when I received the first alert of N20,000.00 for upkeep, it was then that I also confirmed that the tuition has been paid directly to the university. “

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) on April 3, 2024, after he signed the Student Loans (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-enactment) Act into law. The application portal for loans was opened to eligible students on May 24, 2024.

Having hundreds of students like Rakayat Wasiu in mind, President Tinubu, in announcing the establishment of NELFUND, said the agency would provide loans for tuition, fees, and upkeep to students in approved public tertiary institutions and vocational establishments.

According to the President, NELFUND would thrive on fairness and equity and promote inclusiveness by removing the financial barrier to higher education for Nigerian students.

He said the provision of loans to students would encourage more people to seek knowledge, go for higher education, and become valuable contributors to national development.

“As I earlier said, my belief is that education is the greatest weapon against poverty. Without education, there is no vision; without education, there will be no development; without education, you cannot successfully conquer poverty, insecurity, and abuse in society.

“Education is that light at the end of the tunnel, and no matter how sluggish it moves, it will give you light and the hope you need. We are investing in it. We do not want to try ignorance as an alternative. We want education from the foundation to the topmost level,” Tinubu said.

In line with this commitment, the chairman of the fund, Mr Jim Ovia, and the Managing Director, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, have been driving the critical agency towards the actualisation of its mandate.

As observed by some stakeholders, over the years Nigeria’s higher education had been plagued inadequately due to low carrying capacity, the recent being the fuel subsidy removal, which led to many of the institutions, both private and public, increasing their tuition fees  other charges payable by the students.

The implication of the fee hike was that those who are already in school, like Miss Wasiu, would have dropped out of school simply because they could not afford the fees. NELFUND, therefore, strives to revolutionise higher education accessibility in the country by providing interest-free loans to eligible students, thereby breaking down financial barriers and empowering Nigerians to pursue their academic aspirations.

As laudable as this initiative is, there has been cynicism around the loans because of erosion of trust between the leaders and governed in the country. Many Nigerians have come to see a number of government policies and programmes as things designed to benefit a few who are close to the corridor of power to the exclusion of others.

Many students also told the Nigerian Tribune that their initial fears were that the student loan scheme was a scam; others felt that obtaining the loans would prevent them from travelling abroad after graduation, as Japa (emigration) syndrome has been a major issue. Some students also held false belief that they would be hounded for repayment on graduation, among other myths associated with the loan.

In order to clarify some of these doubts and misgivings, the management of NELFUND led by Mr Akintunde Sawyerr launched a sensitisation campaign to zones and some tertiary institutions across the country. On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, the sensitisation train of NELFUND made a stopover at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.

The main auditorium of the university was filled to capacity with students from all the public tertiary institutions in the state. The platform provided opportunity for the students from polytechnics, colleges of education, and universities to interact with the management of NELFUND and hear from the horse’s mouth about the modus operandi of the fund. They were allowed to ask questions as well as offer suggestions on how best the agency could serve them.

The Executive Director of Operations of the Fund, Mustapha Iyal, led the delegation from NELFUND, comprising the assistant director of Fund Mobilisation & Partnership, Mr Akubo Augustine Adejo, among others.

Also, the students’ representative on the NELFUND board, Umar Faruk Lawal, was also on hand to add value to the sensitisation programme. He commended the move by the administration of President Bola Tinubu to establish the student loan initiative.

Faruk, described the establishment of NELFUND by the President Tinubu-led government as a promise fulfilled, stating that the initiative will further encourage indigent students to have access to higher education.

“One of the campaign promises of the President is the student loan, and I am happy to say that the student loan fund is here to stay. Nigerians can now get to understand that children of ‘nobodies’ can now access higher education easily.

“With access to student loans, everyone now has the ease to go to school.”

He noted that the sensitisation programme was to ensure that doubts and misgivings among students about the loan scheme are clarified, stressing that the intention of President Tinubu was to see that no one is left behind in acquiring tertiary education on account of resources.

Earlier in his remark, the Executive Director, Operations of the Fund, Mustapha Iyal, explained that the sensitisation programme was organised in collaboration with the ‘Steam Up Kwara’ and Office of the Special Adviser to the Kwara State Governor on Education for all tertiary institutions in Kwara State.

According to him, the interactive session with the students, heads of tertiary institutions, and their representatives aims to enlighten the participants about the loan scheme, clear their doubts, answer frequently asked questions, get feedback, and inform the audience about some ongoing reforms to make the loan applications and disbursement seamless.

One of the key innovations, Mustapha Iyal revealed, was to link the NELFUND portal with all the beneficiary institutions to the extent that at the point of registration, a student should have an option such as “Pay via NELFUND” or “Pay via Cash.

He added that from day one of registration in any tertiary institutions, a student should be able to determine if he or she would go for the loan. What this means is that verification of students who applied for the loans would be largely carried out by the respective institutions.

He attributed some of the delays in the verification and subsequent disbursement of loans to students to slow responses from institutions, adding that with the new development, loan applicants would complete the process as they registered in their respective institutions.

Sharing more insight on the update, Iyal said: “We observed that one of the problems we are having is the problem of verification. So what NELFUND is trying to do is to engage the institutions directly by linking the NELFUND activities on the institutional portals.  By so doing, when a student tries to register from school, he/she can select whether he/she wants to pay via NELFUND, cash, or other means.

“So if the student opts to pay with NELFUND, he/she will fill in the application with the right details, which are already on the institutional portals, so there won’t be any need to go to the NELFUND portal. This is the kind of portal we are looking at. We want to create a synergy.”

Speaking further on complaints raised by students of beneficiary institutions in Kwara State, the NELFUND top official said the Fund had commenced work on the issues raised.

He further clarified that until a student graduates and is gainfully employed or doing a meaningful business, they are not expected to commence loan repayment, which is about 10 percent of the salary earned.

He, however, informed the gathering that individuals were at liberty to pay up the loan on graduation if he or she had enough resources and willing to do so.

Clarifications were also made on questions bordering on possible restrictions on students on NELFUND loans from travelling abroad and sustainability of the loan scheme after the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

According to the executive director, NELFUND is not considering the option of stopping people from travelling abroad and that what the Fund is doing is to put necessary mechanisms in place to empower the students through skills acquisition and entrepreneurship or provide job opportunities for those who take the loans to be able to pay back.

President, Students Union Government (SUG), University of Ilorin, Agezeh Victor Oghenetega, commended the Federal Government for the introduction of the student loan scheme.

He noted that a lot of universities in the country increased their tuition fees astronomically and that many students would have dropped out were it not for the creation of NELFUND.

He said the only challenge was that many students did not quite understand how the loan scheme works; hence they decided not to go for it. “But from the questions that were raised and answers provided by the NELFUND officials, everyone  is satisfied and well informed to make a choice. I am sure many would now apply for it. It’s a relief to us and our parents,” he said.

The SUG President of Kwara College of Education, Oro, Kemi Racheal Okuniola, called for an increase in the student upkeep from N20,000 to N40,000. She noted that with the current inflation, N20,000 could barely get students anything reasonable to sustain them in school.

She also pointed out that apart from the NELFUND sensitisation programme, institutions have a major role in educating students on the loan scheme, saying this actually led to low application for the loans in the state because students would not just want to take loans they were not properly briefed on the implications or otherwise.

Some students during the interactive session suggested that NELFUND should have desk officers in all the beneficiary institutions for ease of resolution of issues on the loan applications and make the processes seamless.

The vice chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Professor Wahab Olasupo Egbewole, who was represented by the deputy vice chancellor (Management Services), Professor Adegboyega Adisa Fawole, said the sensitisation programme was timely.

 He disclosed that of over 55,000 students at the university, only about 11,000 have applied for the loan because a lot of them have expressed reservations, which the visit of the NELFUND management has helped to demystify.

He commended the efforts being made by NELFUND to simplify the registration and verification processes to make the loan easily accessible by students.

NELFUND has emphasised that these disbursements will significantly ease the financial burdens on students and their families, enabling them to focus on their studies and future careers.

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On the journey so far by the Fund, Managing Director of NELFUND, Mr Akintunde Sawyerr, revealed that NELFUND has disbursed over N35 billion to 261,000 students across the country.

He said: “So far in Nigeria, we have disbursed over N22 billion in institutional fees; that is, money paid to institutions. We have disbursed about N11 billion for upkeep, which goes up every month.

“So far, we have disbursed about N35 billion in total. We have received about 520,000 registrations and about 419,000 applications. We have processed and paid 261,000 students’ upkeep and institutional fees,” Sawyerr said.

The NELFUND boss said the agency was fully funded to cater for Nigerian students, as long as they are eligible and studying in any institution in the country.

“So far, we are very well funded. The political will demonstrated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to allow us access funds outside the statutory allocation is well commended. The law provides for us to raise funds from non-governmental quarters. I think it’s fair to say many Nigerians are helping students with their school fees.