A total of 30,000 students have successfully registered for the student loan scheme, according to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), Akintunde Sawyerr. Additionally, over 60,000 individuals have registered on the fund’s website.
This announcement was made during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
On June 12, 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023, into law. This legislation aims to provide interest-free loans to indigent students for their education in Nigerian tertiary institutions, fulfilling one of Tinubu’s campaign promises to liberalize education funding, as highlighted by Dele Alake, a member of the former Presidential Strategy Team.
The Act, commonly referred to as the Students Loan Law, also established NELFUND to manage all aspects of loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.
Although the government initially planned to launch the scheme in September, several delays pushed it to an indefinite postponement in early March. The Presidency attributed the delay to Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.
Following a briefing from the NELFUND team led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, President Tinubu instructed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students pursuing skill-development programs. He emphasized the importance of accommodating students who prefer skill acquisition over traditional university education, underlining the equal value of vocational skills and academic qualifications.
